la 


W.  C T.  U. 


|8834907 

By  Mrs*  J*  Ansley^ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


https  ;//archive.org/details/historyofgeorgia01  ansi 


MRS.  J.  J.  ANSLEY,  THE  AUTHOR. 


HISTORY  of  the  GEORGIA 
WOMAN’S  CHRISTIAN 
TEMPERANCE  UNION 

FROM  ITS  ORGANIZATION. 

1883  to  1907. 


BY 

MRS.  J.  J.  ANSLEY, 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 


MISS  M.  THERESA  GRIFFIN. 

Recording  Secretary 
of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


CONTAINING  THE  NAMES  OF  MEMBERS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND 
HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  WHO  VOTED  FOR  THE  PROHIBI- 
TORY LAW  AND  OF  THE  GOVERNOR  WHO  SIGNED  THE  BILL. 
ALSO  ILLUSTRATED  WITH  A NUMBER  OF  PORTRAITS  OF  NOTED 
TEMPERANCE  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


Copyright,  1914, 

By  The  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Georgia, 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


GILBERT  PRINTING  CO., 
COLUMBUS,  GA. 
1914. 


!7« 

'^'i-rZQr 


TO  THE  GOVERNOR. 

THE  HON.  HOKE  SMITH, 

AND  THOSE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE 
WHO  PLACED  UPON  THE  STATUTE  BOOKS  OF  THE  STATE  OF  GEORGIA 
A PROHIBITORY  LAW,  JULY  30th,  I90T, 

THIS  VOLUME 

IS  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED 
BY  THE 

GEORGIA  WOMAN'S  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION. 


22-1058 


‘Truth  iinweaponed  conquers  every  wrong.” 


6^ 


058 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Page 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  WHO  VOTED  FOR  THE  PRO- 
HIBITION BILL 12 

INTRODUCTION 15 

CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  PROHIBITION  IN  GEORGIA— ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OF 
THE  TEMPERANCE  MOVEMENT  PRECEDING  THE  WO- 
MAN’S CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION  - - - - 19 

CHAPTER  II. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  WOMAN’S  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION— 
“MOTHER  STEWART”  INVITED  BY  GOOD  TEMPLARS 
ORGANIZES  THE  FIRST  UNION  IN  ATLANTA,  1881— LOCAL 
OPTION  PETITIONS  — FRANCES  WILLARD  COMES  — LOCAL 
OPTION  BILL  DEFEATED  IN  JULY,  1881 35 

CHAPTER  III. 

GOD’S  CALL  TO  WOMEN-STATE  ORGANIZATION— FIRST  CON- 
VENTION MEETS  IN  ATLANTA,  JANUARY  IITH,  1883,  MRS. 
WILLIAM  C.  SIBLEY,  PRESIDENT— FRANCES  E.  WILLARD 
AND  MRS.  SALLIE  F.  CHAPIN  ARE  THE  SPEAKERS— LOCAL 
OPTION  PETITIONS  CONTINUE  BUT  BILL  DEFEATED  A 
SECOND  TIME-SECOND  GEORGIA  W.  C.  T.  U.  CONVENTION 
AT  AUGUSTA  IN  1884  - - 51 

CHAPTER  IV. 

SEED  SOWING  THROUGH  DEPARTMENTS  — TRAINING  THE 
CHILDREN— PRISON  WORK-WITH  THE  COLORED  PEOPLE- 
THIRD  CONVENTION  IN  COLUMBUS  IN  1886-MRS.  SALLIE  F. 
CHAPIN’S  ELOQUENCE  — WORK  OF  THE  W.  C.  T.  U.  IN 
COUNTY  ELECTIONS  FROM  1883  TO  1886  — HOW  FULTON 
COUNTY  WENT  DRY  - 68 

CHAPTER  V. 

PASSAGE  OF  THE  GENERAL  LOCAL  OPTION  BILL  JULY  28TH, 

1885  — COUNTY  VICTORIES -SCIENTIFIC  TEMPERANCE  IN- 
STRUCTION BILL  DEFEATED  — FOURTH  CONVENTION  IN 
MAY,  1886,  AT  MACON  A GREAT  SUCCESS— SECOND  AT- 
TEMPT TO  PASS  SCIENTIFIC  TEMPERANCE  INSTRUCTION 
LAW  DEFEATED -1887  CONVENTION  HELD  IN  MASONIC 
TEMPLE,  SAVANNAH— AFTER  TWO  YEARS  PROHIBITION 
ATLANTA  WENT  WET— HENRY  GRADY’S  GREAT  SPEECHES  90 


viii  Table  of  Contents. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Page 

MRS.  W.  H.  FELTON,  A WHITE  RIBBON  ORATOR  OF  PIONEER 
DAYS— ORIGINATED  AND  WROTE  W.  C.  T.  U.  MEMORIAL 
AGAINST  CONVICT  LEASE  IN  1886  — MADE  PROHIBITION 
SPEECHES  THROUGHOUT  GEORGIA— SPOKE  AGAINST  THE 
INTERNAL  REVENUE  SYSTEM— HER  GREAT  SPEECH  AT 
MADISON  HELPED  TO  CARRY  MORGAN  COUNTY  DRY  - 104 

CHAPTER  VII. 

CONVENTION  OF  1888  AT  BAPTIST  CHURCH,  ATLANTA— MRS. 
CHAPIN,  HON.  WALTER  B.  HILL,  MRS.  FELTON  THE 
SPEAKERS  — CONVENTION  IN  1889  AT  AUGUSTA  — MOVE- 
MENT LED  BY  MRS.  M.  L.  McLENDON  FOR  STATE  INDUS- 
TRIAL COLLEGE  FOR  GIRLS  — HIGH  LICENSE  POLICY 
CHECKS  INCREASE  OF  PROHIBITION  COUNTIES— 1890  CON- 
VENTION AT  ROME-MRS.  FELTON,  MRS.  McLENDON,  HON. 
SEABORN  WRIGHT  THE  SPEAKERS 113 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

INVITED  BY  THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE  THE  NATIONAL  W.  C. 

T.  U.  COMES  TO  ATLANTA,  NOVEMBER,  1890— FRANCES 
WILLARD,  ANNA  GORDON,  ELIZABETH  GREENWOOD 
AMONG  THE  SPEAKERS— MARY  H.  HUNT,  MARY  T.  LATH- 
ROP  AND  CLARA  C.  HOFFMAN  ADDRESS  THE  LEGIS- 
LATURE-GREAT IMPETUS  GIVEN  BY  NATIONAL  CON- 
VENTION   124 


CHAPTER  IX. 

STATE  CONVENTION  AT  THOMASVILLE,  1891— MRS.  MARY  T.  LA- 
THROP  THE  SPEAKER-CONVENTION  AT  MILLEDGEVILLE, 
1892— MRS.  SALLIE  F.  CHAPIN  AND  MRS.  FELTON  SPEAK- 
FIVE  PROHIBITION  COUNTIES  ADDED— DISPENSARY  ES- 
TABLISHED IN  ATHENS— S.  T.  I.  LAW  DEFEATED  THE 
THIRD  TIME  IN  LEGISLATURE-CONVENTION  IN  1893  AT 
MACON— OPPOSITION  OP  LEADING  BAPTIST  MINISTERS— 
NORTH  GEORGIA  M.  E.  CONFERENCE  REFUSES  ENDORSE- 
MENT—MRS.  WILLIAM  C.  SIBLEY,  MRS.  W.  H.  FELTON,  AND 
MRS.  LELLA  A.  DILLARD  DEFEND  THE  W.  C.  T.  U.- WOMAN 
SUFFRAGE  CONTROVERSY  SET  AT  REST  - - - - 


134 


Table  of  Contents. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CONVENTION  AT  ROME,  1894— RESULTS  OP  MINISTERIAL  OPPO- 
SITION-GREAT PETITION  PRESENTED  TO  LEGISLATURE 
FOR  S.  T.  I.  BILL  WITHOUT  SUCCESS— CONVENTION  AT  SA- 
VANNAH 1896  SMALL  BUT  DETERMINED— SPEAKERS,  MISS 
KEARNEY,  MRS.  JENNIE  HART  SIBLEY,  MRS.  MARY  McGHEE 
SNELL  — CONVENTION  OP  1896  AT  BRUNSWICK  — MISS 
KEARNEY  SPEAKS  GRANDLY— LECTURE  BUREAU  ESTAB- 
LISHED-LECTURES AT  COTTON  STATES  EXPOSITION  IN 
ATLANTA  BY  FRANCES  B.  BEAUCHAMP,  KATHERINE  LENT 
STEVENSON,  HELEN  M.  BARKER— DEATH  OF  MRS.  SAL- 
LIE  P.  CHAPIN,  THE  “GREATHEART”  OF  THE  W.  C.  T.  U. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  CHAPIN  MONUMENT— HOW  OBTAINED— FRANCES  WIL- 
LARD’S TRIBUTE-WHAT  MRS.  CHAPIN  DID  FOR  A 
GEORGIA  VILLAGE  

CHAPTER  XII. 

MRS.  L.  M.  N.  STEVENS  AT  STATE  CONVENTION,  SANDERS  VILLE, 
1897  — URGES  TEMPERANCE  EDUCATION  — MRS.  FELTON, 
MRS.  JENNIE  HART  SIBLEY,  AND  MRS.  J.  J.  THOMAS 
COMMITTEE  TO  WORK  FOR  S.  T.  I.  BILL— INDIGNATION 
AT  ITS  CONTINUED  DEFEAT  IN  THE  LEGISLATURE— PAS- 
SING OF  FRANCES  E.  WILLARD,  FEBRUARY  19TH,  1898— 
MEMORIAL  SERVICE  AT  CONVENTION  IN  ATLANTA,  JUNE 
14TH— ADOPTION  OF  FRANCHISE  DEPARTMENT  DISCUSSED 
AND  DEFEATED  

CHAPTER  XIII. 

CLOUDS  AGAIN  LOWER— MANY  UNIONS  DISBAND— NO  CON- 
VENTION IN  1899— CONVENTION  AT  AUGUSTA,  1900-ONLY 
EIGHT  UNIONS  REPRESENTED— MRS.  WILLIAiM  C.  SIBLEY 
RESIGNS— HER  PARTING  MESSAGE— MRS.  JENNIE  HART 
SIBLEY  ELECTED  PRESIDENT- HER  HIGH  QUALIFICATIONS 
FOR  THE  OFFICE 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

A VIGOROUS  NEW  ADMINISTRATION — BARNESVILLE  CON- 
VENTION, 1901— MRS.  STEVENS  AND  MISS  GORDON  PRESENT- 
PASSAGE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  TEMPERANCE  INSTRUCTION  BILL 
DECEMBER,  1901— INTERESTING  CELEBRATION  IN  BOSTON 
AT  THE  HOME  OF  MRS.  MARY  H.  HUNT,  NATIONAL  SUPER- 
INTENDENT S.  T.  I.  


X Table  of  Contents. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Page 

TWO  CONVENTIONS  IN  1902,  MILLEDGEVILLE  IN  MAY  AND 
THOMSON  IN  OCTOBER— VETO  OF  DISPENSARY  BILL— GOV- 
ERNOR CANDLER  FIRST  HONORARY  MEMBER— MRS.  AR- 
MOR ENTERED  THE  WORK,  GRIFFIN  CONVENTION,  1903— 
EASTMAN  CONVENTION,  1904,  MRS.  S.  M.  D.  FRY,  SPEAKER, 
GEORGIA  BULLETIN  ESTABLISHED-MRS.  SIBLEY  RESIGNS 
AND  MRS.  ARMOR  ELECTED  AT  AMERICUS,  1906-MRS.  NELL 
G.  BURGER  SPEAKER— RECORD  BREAKING  CONVENTION 

AT  Lagrange  in  1906— new  charter  secured  - - 199 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

DEPARTMENT  WORK  UNDER  MRS.  ARMOR’S  ADMINISTRA- 
TION—ITS  DIRECT  AND  INDIRECT  INFLUENCE  UPON 
PROHIBITION 210 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

MRS.  ARMOR’S  INTENSIVE  METHODS— HER  BRILLIANT  CAM- 
PAIGNING—W.  C.  T.  U.  BULLETIN  AS  A WEAPON  IN  THE 
BATTLE 216 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

STRENUOUS  ACTIVITY— MRS.  ARMOR’S  CAMPAIGN  WORK  CON- 
TINUED-UNION OF  FORCES  WITH  ANTI-SALOON  LEAGUE- 
AUTHORS  OF  THE  PROHIBITION  BILL  ....  223 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

SCENES  IN  ATLANTA  IN  1907— PROHIBITION  RALLIES-SUNRISE 
PRAYER  MEETING— CROWDS  AT  THE  CAPITOL— WHITE 
RIBBONERS  CALM  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  STORM  - - 228 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  WORK  OF  WHITE  RIBBONERS  AT  THE  CAPITOL-FILI- 

BUSTERING  BY  ANTI-PROHIBITIONISTS— FINAL  VICTORY.  234 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  JUBILEE  CONVENTION  AT  COLUMBUS,  OCTOBER,  1907— 

MRS.  STEVENS,  MISS  GORDON,  MISS  RHENA  E.  G.  MOSHER 
PRESENT— NATIONAL  CONVENTION  AT  NASHVILLE,  NO- 
VEMBER, 1907— MRS.  ARMOR’S  GRE.YT  SPEECH,  “HOW  GEOR- 
GIA WENT  DRY’’— HER  EIGHT  THOUSAND  DOLLAR  COL- 


LECTION   241 

APPENDIX  253 


LIST  OP  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


MRS.  J.  J.  ANSLEY,  THE  AUTHOR. 

JAMES  EDWARD  OGLETHORPE,  FOUNDER  OF  COLONY  OF  GEOR- 
GIA, 1733. 

REV.  SAM  P.  JONES,  THE  FEARLESS  APOSTLE  OF  WORLD-WIDE 
PROHIBITION. 

MISS  MISSOURI  H.  STOKES. 

MRS.  E.  C.  WITTER. 

RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  WILLIAM  C.  SIBLEY  AT  AUGUSTA. 

MRS.  WILLIAM  C.  SIBLEY,  FIRST  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  GEORGIA 
W.  C.  T.  U. 

MRS.  JOHN  S.  MOORE  AND  MRS.  M.  S.  A.  WEBB. 

MRS.  MARY  L.  MCLENDON. 

MRS.  WILLIAM  H.  FELTON. 

HON.  SEABORN  WRIGHT,  LEADER  OF  THE  PROHIBITION  PARTY. 
MRS.  LELLA  A.  DILLARD. 

MRS.  JENNIE  HART  SIBLEY,  SECOND  PRESIDENT. 

AUTOGRAPH  LETTER  OF  FRANCES  WILLARD. 

MRS.  THOMAS  E.  PATTERSON,  FOURTH  PRESIDENT. 

MRS.  CHESTERFIELD  H.  SMITH. 

MRS.  MARY  HARRIS  ARMOR,  THIRD  PRESIDENT. 

PROHIBITION  MAP  OF  GEORGIA  IN  1906. 

MR.  FRED  L.  SEELY,  EDITOR  OF  “THE  GEORGIAN”,  THE  ONLY 
DAILY  PAPER  IN  GEORGIA  TO  ESPOUSE  THE  CAUSE  OF  STATE- 
WIDE PROHIBITION. 

HON.  WILLIAM  J.  NEEL. 

HON.  L.  G.  HARDMAN,  JOINT  AUTHOR  OF  THE  PROHIBITION  BILL. 
HON.  WILLIAM  A.  COVINGTON.  JOINT  AUTHOR  OP  THE  PROHIBI- 
TION BILL. 


MEMBERS  OP  THE  LEGISLATURE  WHO  VOTED 
FOR  THE  PROHIBITION  BILL. 


SENATORS: 


NAME 

DISTRICT 

NAME 

DISTRICT 

John  W.  Akin 

Forty-second 

C.  I.  Hudson 

Twenty-fifth 

E.  Winn  Born 

J.  W.  Boyd 

Thirty-fourth 

Thirty-second 

J.  W.  Hughes 

J.  P.  Knight 

Second 

Sixth 

C.  W.  Brantley 

,.  . Sixteenth 

A.  E.  Lashley 

Fortieth 

J.  S.  Bush 

Eighteenth 

W.  C.  Martin 

Forty-third 

Benjamin  Camp 

Thirtv-first 

E.  K.  Overstreet 

Seventeenth 

J.  S.  Cowart 

H.  A.  Crittenden 

Ninth 

Eleventh 

Z.  V.  Peacock 

Fourteenth 

George  W.  Deen  ... 

Fifth 

J.  R. Stapleton 

E.  T.  Steed 

Twelfth 

Thirty-seventh 

E.  P.  Dorrs 

Thirty-flfth 

W.  L.  Sikes 

Tenth 

Ira  E.  Farmer 

.Twenty-ninth 

J.  W.  Taylor 

Thirty-sixth 

Marion  L.  Felts 

Nineteenth 

C.  H.  Turner 

Twenty-seventh 

L.  G.  Hardman 

Thirty-third 

William  Walden  , 

Eighteenth 

P.  M.  Hawes 

Thirtieth 

W.  F.  Walker 

Thirty-eighth 

J.  E.  Hayes 

Thirteenth 

J.  L.  Weaver 

Forty-first 

•T.  A..T.  Henderson 

Fifteenth 

H.  W.  Whaley 

Third 

Lewis  a.  Henderson 

..Thirty-ninth 

J.  A.  Wilkes 

Seventh 

J.  D.  Howard 

Twentieth 

0,.  L.  Williford 

Twenty-eighth 

REPRESENTATIVES: 


NAME  COUNTY 

W.  B.  Adams... Elbert 

T.  A.  Adkins .Dooly 

Hooper  Alexander DeKalb 

J.  D.  Anderson Cobb 


NAME  COUNTY 

C.  R.  Ashley.. DoM-ndes 

Paul  M.  Atkinson Morgan 

J.  R.  .Atwater Upson 

J.  W.  Austin Murray 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


13 


NAME 

COUNTY 

F.  D.  Ballard 

Newton 

Fermor  Barrett... 

kStephens 

Andrew  E.  Bond 

Forsyth 

E.  P.  Bowen 

Tift 

Joseph  D.  Boyd 

Spalding 

W.  F.  Brown  

Carroll 

Paul  Brown 

Oglethorpe 

W.  A.  Buchannon  , 

, Early 

W.  T.  Burkhalter  . 

Tattnall 

William  Butt 

Fannin 

W.  H.  Burwell 

Hancock 

O.  Calbeck 

Gordon 

J.  P.  Callaway 

Lee 

C.  M.  Candler 

DeKalb 

D.  J.  Clark 

Laurens 

Peter  Clifton 

Toombs 

M.  E.  COLLUM 

..Schley 

E.  E.  Cook 

Chattahoochee 

Matt  Cook 

Telfair 

M.  L.  Cook  

Thomas 

W.  A.  Covington 

Colquitt 

M.  H. Couch 

Coweta 

J.  W.  Cowan 

Rockdale 

T. G. CULBRBTH 

Echols 

R.  G.  Daniel 

.Jenkins 

J.  H.  Davis 

.Houston 

R.  E.  Davison 

Greene 

L.  A.  Dean  

Floyd 

R.  L.  Dickey 

Crawford 

E.  J.  Dorminy 

Irwin 

C.  I.  Duggan... 

Washington 

W.  W.  Dykes,  Jr. 

Sumter 

W.  T.  Eaves 

Haralson 

B.  H.  Edmonson 

Chattooga 

J.  C.  Edwards  . . 

Habersham 

S.  T.  Ellison 

Harris 

T.  V.  Fagan. 

Houston 

W.  J.  Flanders 

. Johnson 

A.  M.  Flanigan 

Jackson 

N.  A.  Frier 

Ware 

NAME  COUNTY 

J.  Z.  Foster Cobb 

H.  J.  Fullbright Burke 

P.  F,  M.  Furr Banks 

N.  L.  Galloway Walton 

W.  A.  Gibson Glascock 

Thomas  M.  Godley Camden 

J.  W.  Goode Pickens 

Clarence  T.  Guyton Effingham 

W.  W.  Hamilton Columbia 

R.  N.  Hardeman Jefferson 

R.  C.  Harris Crisp 

S.  M.  Haywood McDuffie 

Benjamin  F.  Hill Monroe 

J.  N.  Holder Jackson 

G.  M.  Huib Clayton 

W.  C.  Hullender Catoosa 

J.  B.  Jackson Jones 

Greene  F.  Johnson Jasper 

L.  W.  Johnson Jeff  Davis 

J.  F.  Johnson Towns 

W.  R.  Jones Meriwether 

A.  T.  Jones Mitchell 

G.  J.  Keith, Meriwether 

Thomas  B.  Kendall Paulding 

J.  R.  Kendrick Taliaferro 

G.  D.  Lively Burke 

G.  P.  Lunseord Stewart 

W.  K.  McIntyre Thomas 

J.  J.  C.  McMahan Clarke 

E.  H.  McMichael ...Marion 

A.  J.  McMullan Hart 

S.  C.  McWilliams Henry 

L.  H.  O.  Martin Elbert 

L.  R.  Massengale ..Warren 

S.  H.  Mays Butts 

J.  R.  Mercer Terrell 

Joseph  A.  Morris Wayne 

I.  F.  Mundy Polk 

William  J.  Neel Bartow 

O.  A.  Nix Gwinnett 


u 


History  of  the 


NAME 

COUNTY 

Hal  G.  Nowell 

Walton 

J.  C.  Odum 

I.  N.  Orr 

Baker 

Coweta 

W.  M.  Parker Talbot 

C.  E.  Parrish Berrien 

Claud  Payton Worth 

George  Ogden  Persons Monroe 

W.  J.  Peterson ...Montgomery 

M.  E.  Pope  Brooks 

Lee  Pope Dade 

J.  A.  Price Bartow 

J.  D.  Price Oconee 

J.  E.  Reid 

A.  S.  Reid 

S.  B.  Reid. 

W.  H.  Rogers 

W.  T.  Rogers 

B.  L.  Rountree 

T.  E.  Ryals. 

Macon 

Putnam 

Wilcox 

McIntosh 

Randolph 

Emanuel 

Bibb 

Emmett  R.  Shaw 

W.  D.  Sheffield 

T.  G.  Simmons  

E.  L.  Smith 

Claude  C.  Smith 

W.  A.  Strickland  .. 

Clay 

Decatur 

Gilmer 

Calhoun 

Campbell 

Pike 

NAME  COUNTY 

J.  B.  Stubbs .Tbomas 

J.  W.  Summer  Turner 

S.  B.  Swirling ...Franklin 

J.  B.  Taylor  ..Appling 

R.  R.  Terrell Grady 

T.  B.  Thorne ...Bulloch 

B.  F.  Thurman.. Walker 

C.  C.  Tracy Webster 

S.  J.  Tyson... Emanuel 

J.  R.  Walker. Lowndes 

G.  B.  Walker Milton 

J.  Frank  Walker Washington 

C.  A.  Ward Coffee 

W.  G.  Warnell... Tattnall 

M.  D.  Watkins Carroll 

S.  A.  Way Pulaski 

L.  A.  White Madison 

H.  S.  White Screven 

T.  R.  Whitley  Douglas 

W.  J.  Williams Dodge 

G.  W.  Williams Laurens 

W.  W.  Wilson Gwinnett 

J.  W.  Wise Fayette 

Seaborn  Wright Floyd 

S.  A.  WooTTEN ..tVilkes 

R.  M.  Young ....Troup 


■ff  ntrobuction 


Jfhen  the  l/ord  turned  again  the  captivity 
of  Zion,  then  were  we  like  unto  them  that  dream j 
then  was  our  mouth  filled  with  laughter  and  our 
tongue  with  Joy. 


Thus  it  was  with  the  White  Ribboners  of  Georgia 
when  the  wires  flashed  out  the  news  that  the  Legislature 
of  1907  had  passed  a state  wide  prohibition  law  and 
that  Governor  Hoke  Smith  had  signed  it!  They 
dreamed  of  a state  redeemed  from  the  oppression  of 
the  liquor  traffic;  they  dreamed  of  homes  to  which 
domestic  happiness  and  prosperity  were  restored — 
homes  long  familiar  with  only  misery,  dissension, 
shame  and  want;  they  dreamed  of  honest  money  turned 
into  channels  of  blessing  instead  of  stuffing  the  coffers 
of  the  whiskey  seller;  they  dreamed  of  the  closing  of 
houses  of  prostitution  and  the  disappearance  from  our 
streets  and  newspapers  of  the  lying  advertisements  sent 
out  by  “the  trade;”  they  dreamed  of  little  children 
released  from  grinding  toil  and  learning  to  play  and 
laugh  and  live;  they  dreamed  of  churches  and  school 
houses  and  happy  homes  rising  to  efface  the  memory 
of  the  hated  dram-shops.  Oh  what  glorious  dreams 
they  were! 

Our  bright,  brave  and  brilliant  leader,  Mary  Harris 
Armor  dreamed  of  a magnificent  bronze  memorial 


16 


History  of  the 

fountain  to  be  erected  on  the  Capitol  grounds  in  At- 
lanta, a permanent  reminder  of  this  great  victory  for 
civic  righteousness  and  a means  of  perpetuating  the 
names  of  all  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  who 
had  voted  for  the  Prohibition  Bill.  She  dreamed  that 
it  would  be  fashioned  with  artistic  skill  and  would 
attract  the  men  and  women  of  future  generations  to 
admire  its  beauty  and  learn  its  purpose;  that  it  would 
ever  flow  with  bright  and  sparkling  water  and  be  an 
object  of  pride  and  pleasure  to  all  Georgians.  Her  idea 
was  warmly  taken  up  by  the  women  of  the  Atlanta  W. 
C.  T.  U.,  to  whom  she  first  mentioned  it,  and  was  duly 
launched  at  the  Jubilee  Convention  in  Columbus,  Octo- 
ber, 1907.  The  fountain  was  not  to  cost  less  than 
$5,000.00  and  committees  were  appointed  in  each  Con- 
gressional District  of  the  State  to  raise  the  money. 

But  the  movement  did  not  materialize.  Very  few 
outside  the  White  Bibhon  ranks  seemed  to  take  any 
interest  in  it — it  is  hard  to  explain  exactly  why.  The 
masses  of  the  people  seemed  absorbed  in  personal  mat- 
ters and  cared  very  little  for  the  prohibition  law.  It 
was  life  and  death  to  us,  but  a mere  passing  sound  to 
them.  The  politicians  were  skeptical  as  to  its  enforce- 
ment; the  gay  and  frivilous  thought  more  of  the  latest 
mode  or  the  popular  novel  of  the  moment  than  they 
did  of  the  question  of  saloon  dominance;  the  business 
men  gave  it  only  a passing  comment.  How  wonderful 
it  seemed  that  they  did  not  care — hut  in  the  days  when 
the  Magna  Charta  was  signed,  did  broad  England,  in 
the  rank  and  file,  even  understand  what  had  hap- 
pened? 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


17 


When  the  first  year  of  the  prohibition  law  had  passed 
and  the  Georgia  W.  G.  T.  U.  assembled  at  Macon  for  the 
annual  convention,  there  was  less  than  a thousand  dol- 
lars in  the  Fountain  Fund.  It  was  a disappointment; 
but,  Mrs.  Armor,  ever  resourceful,  proposed  that  while 
the  purpose  of  the  fund  should  remain  the  same,  that  is, 
to  memorialize  the  voters  for  the  prohibition  law,  its 
method  should  be  changed  to  the  publication  of  a 
memorial  volume,  giving  the  history  of  the  first  twenty- 
five  3^ears  of  the  existence  of  the  Georgia  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  and  the  glorious  crowning 
of  its  work  in  the  passage  of  our  Prohibition  measure. 
This  idea  met  with  instant  favor  and  the  present 
volume  is  the  outcome.  It  has  been  carefully  prepared 
by  one  who  was  close  to  the  heart  of  the  prohibition 
movement  throughout  and  who  is  truly  an  enthusiast 
in  the  temperance  cause.  To  those  “who  have  ears  to 
hear”  it  will  appeal;  to  those  who  can  share  the  sorrows 
of  Jesus  Christ  over  a sinful  world  it  will  have  a 
meaning. 

These  pages  make  up  the  story  of  a great  moral  battle 
and,  thank  God,  of  a great  victory.  It  tells  of  the  aspira- 
tion of  Oglethorpe  and  of  many  of  the  early  builders 
of  our  great  state,  that  Georgia  should  be  free  from  the 
plague  spot  of  liquor  selling;  it  sketches  the  stress  and 
strain  of  twenty-five  years  of  woman’s  humble  work; 
how  our  White  Ribbon  women  gently  plead,  prayed 
and  endured;  how  they  taught  the  children,  how  they 
warned  and  persuaded  the  men;  how  they  besought  the 
ministers  of  God  to  join  them  in  the  work  and  give 

them  the  sanction  and  prestige  of  the  church;  how  the 

(2) 


18 


History  of  the 


temperance  men  strove  by  forensic  eloquence,  diplo- 
matic skill  and  virile  strength  of  purpose  to  beat  back 
the  army  of  liquor  sellers;  and  how,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  they  succeeded  at  least  in  branding  these  debauch- 
ers  of  our  state  with  the  brand  of  outlawry.  Let  the 
children  and  grandchildren  of  these  men  and  women 
read  and  understand,  if  they  can,  what  this  struggle 
meant  to  those  who  went  before.  If  even  a few  may 
sense  from  it  the  grandeur  of  our  cause  and  the  joy  and 
glory  of  working  for  it — then  the  Story  of  the  Georgia 
W.  C.  T.  U.  from  1883  to  1907  is  not  written  in  vain. 

M.  Theresa  Griffin, 
Recording  Secretary. 


CHAPTER  I. 


EARLY  PROHIBITION  IN  GEORGIA. — ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OF 
THE  TEMPERANCE  MOVEMENT  PRECEDING  THE  WOMAN’S 
CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION. 

Every  bondman  in  his  own  hand  hears 
The  power  to  cancel  his  captivity. 

— Julius  Caesar,  Act  I,  Sc.  III. 

As  a great  life  is  made  up  of  influences  a hundred 
years  back  of  it,  so  a great  organization  springs  into 
being  through  forces  put  into  operation  many  gener- 
ations prior  to  its  existence.  For  this  reason  it  seems 
best  to  trace  briefly  from  the  beginning  of  Georgia’s 
history  the  origin  of  her  temperance  principles  together 
with  the  work  of  those  orders  which  formed  a basis  for 
the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  and  led  to 
the  shaping  of  its  policy. 

At  the  time  of  the  prohibition  victory  in  Georgia,  July 
30th,  1907,  when  statutory  prohibition  of  the  liquor 
traffic  was  secured,  many  writers  and  speakers  gave  an 
opinion  as  to  what  brought  it  to  pass.  Some  attributed 
it  to  the  Christian  Church  at  large,  some  to  the  ministry, 
some  to  certain  individuals,  some  to  the  Anti-Saloon 
League,  others  to  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union.  If  we  look  to  history,  which  is  alone  able  to 
give  a correct  judgment,  it  will  be  found  that  the  cumu- 
lative influence  which  resulted  in  this  achievement, 
dates  be3’^ond  the  early  settlement  of  Georgia  to  the 


20  History  of  the 

English  forefathers  who  had  a share  in  the  formation 
of  one  of  the  most  princely  characters  that  ever  blessed 
humanity — James  Edward  Oglethorpe.  His  exalted 
conception  of  human  liberty,  and  rare  spirit  of  unselfish 
philanthropy,  shielded  the  persecuted  and  protected  the 
weak  of  two  continents.  Not  only  the  State  of  Georgia 
but  the  entire  Union  is  brought  under  tribute  to  his 
munificence  and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  right.  With 
pen,  voice,  money  and  sword  he  fought  ever}'^  enemy 
to  civic  righteousness  From  the  first  morning  of  Feb- 
ruary 2nd,  1733,  when  he,  with  his  compatriots,  gath- 
ered about  the  camp  fires  on  the  shores  of  the  Savannah 
and  dedicated  the  soil  whereon  they  stood  to  Almighty 
God,  until  the  day  he  left,  never  to  return,  he  was  as  a 
wall  of  fire  against  the  greatest  oppressor  known  to  the 
human  race — the  legalized  liquor  traffic. 

Under  his  heroic  leadership,  Georgia’s  charter  was 
baptized  with  mercy,  opening  her  gates  to  the  friend- 
less, granting  libert}'  of  conscience  to  all  persecuted 
Protestants,  even  receiving  the  outcast  Jews  as  breth- 
ren. A man  of  this  type  would  as  naturally  forbid  the 
importation  of  rum  as  he  would  protect  his  countrjnnen 
from  any  other  foul  invader.  General  Oglethorpe 
recognized  the  fact  that  the  rule  of  rum  would  institute 
a t3^ranny  of  fiercer  cruelty  than  that  of  kings  or  popes. 
In  his  memorable  address  on  the  first  day  of  the 
colony’s  history  in  uttering  an  emphatic  warning 
against  the  sin  of  intemperance,  he  said:  “It  is  m3’ 
hope  that  through  3’our  good  example  Georgia’s  settle- 
ment will  prove  a blessing  and  not  a curse  to  our  Indian 
neighbors.” 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  21 

He  influenced  the  colonists  to  enact  the  most  strin- 
gent prohibitory  laws  against  the  importation  of  rum, 
which  were  rigidly  enforced  the  first  nine  years  of  the 
colony’s  existence.  Subsequently  through  the  demor- 
alizing agencies  of  war  and  the  enforced  absence  of 
Oglethorpe,  the  officials  became  lax  in  their  administra- 
tion, the  free  use  of  intoxicants  was  allowed,  the  law 
against  the  importation  of  spirituous  liquors  violated, 
and  finally  repealed.  Over-ridden  by  the  majority, 
Oglethorpe  yet  pleaded  for  the  enforcement  rather  than 
the  annulment  of  the  law.  While  the  English  Parlia- 
ment was  urging  the  grant  of  the  right  to  import  rum, 
in  a letter  to  the  trustees  of  the  colony  February,  1743, 
he  says:  “As  for  the  magistrates  in  Savannah  being 
able  to  enforce  the  law,  it  is  the  fault  of  such  magis- 
trates. I am  sure  here  at  Fredrica,  the  laws  are 
strictly  put  in  execution.” 

Thus  we  see  that  James  Edward  Oglethorpe  was 
championing  this  great  principle  of  human  right  long 
before  the  birth  of  its  modern  advocates.  His  broad 
humanitarianism  and  sturdy  Christianitj'^  were  the 
source  of  the  first  single  stream  in  Georgia  which  has 
flowed  down  through  the  years  and  to-day  goes  to  swell 
the  great  gulf  stream  of  prohibitory  law.  He  is  not  only 
the  founder  of  the  colony  of  Georgia,  but  the  father  of 
the  first  prohibition  measure. 

Next  to  promulgate  prohibition  in  Georgia  were  the 
Salzburgers;  those  martyrs  of  the  Alps,  whose  story  of 
persecution  has  stirred  the  heart  of  every  civilized 
nation.  They  came  with  the  fires  of  heroism  burning 
in  their  breasts.  They  were  inspired  by  the  majesty 


22 


History  of  the 

of  Georgia’s  two-fold  mission:  to  make  a home  for  the 
weak  and  oppressed  and  form  a bulwark  of  defense 
to  all  the  American  colonies  against  the  encroachment 
of  the  Spaniards.  Their  sobriety,  industry",  frugality 
and  piety  made  their  settlement,  Ebenezer,  the 
synonym  for  all  that  was  peaceful  and  strong.  At  one 
time  v/hen  England  began  to  lose  hope  of  the  colony’s 
development,  and  threatened  to  withdraw  support,  the 
consideration  of  the  unremitting  labor  together  with 
the  temperate  and  pious  habits  of  the  Salzburgers,  led 
to  renewed  confidence  and  fostering  care.  These  pro- 
genitors of  great  principles  sowed  the  seed  broadcast 
for  wholesome  legislation  in  the  years  following. 

Two  years  later,  1735,  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  and 
Moravians  came  to  add  their  quota  of  influence.  The 
Moravians  remained  only  a brief  period,  but  the  noble 
Scotch  Highlanders  who  were  placed  on  an  outpost  of 
danger  at  Darien  as  fortifiers  against  the  Indians  and 
Spaniards,  held  the  fort  with  courage  characteristic  of 
their  world-famed  fidelity  and  made  their  community  a 
center  of  joy  and  peace. 

The  same  vessel  which  bore  the  Moravians  and  Scot- 
land’s brave  sons,  brought  Charles  Wesley,  the  founder 
of  Methodism  and  one  of  the  mightiest  foes  of  the  liquor 
traffic  the  world  has  produced.  His  rigid  views  of 
total  abstinence  supported  by  a powerful  intellectual 
and  spiritual  force  molded  opinion,  not  so  much 
through  his  own  personal  work  in  Georgia,  as  through 
teachers  of  his  great  system  of  Christian  life  and  doc- 
trine. Among  the  number  of  Wesley’s  disciples  teach- 
ing total  abstinence  was  the  eloquent  Whitfield,  whose 


23 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

wonderous  power  gave  tremendous  momentum  to  the 
temperance  cause.  His  terrific  denunciation  of  drunk- 
enness and  drinking  in  the  church  at  Savannah  is  thrill- 
ing reading  to  this  day,  after  more  than  a hundred 
years. 

When  General  Oglethorpe  retired  from  the  Governor 
Generalship,  and  less  worthy  successors  granted  the 
right  to  import  and  manufacture  spirituous  liquors,  the 
colonists  became  corrupted,  their  health  impaired,  and 
many  died  from  the  excessive  use  of  intoxicants. 
Thousands  of  African  slaves  and  Indians  fell  by  the 
drink  habit  in  a single  year.  DeBrahm  says  that  so 
great  was  the  slaughter  among  the  negroes,  that  in  1761 
there  was  scarce  above  three  dozen  negroes  in  the 
colony. 

The  rapid  growth  of  debauchery  and  idleness  under 
the  license  system,  threatened  the  life  of  the  colony.  In 
June,  1752,  when  the  charter  was  surrendered  to  the 
trustees,  the  sum  of  Georgia’s  annual  exports  was  less 
than  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling.  Wars  were  precip- 
itated with  the  Indians  through  the  inflammatory 
effects  of  alcoholic  liquors,  and  death  and  desolation 
seemed  to  face  the  colonists  on  every  hand. 

Realizing  the  utter  failure  of  the  license  system  to 
regulate  and  control  the  drink  evil.  Governor  Ellis,  on 
the  27th  day  of  July,  1757,  signed  a law  forbidding  the 
sale  of  wine,  beer,  cider,  brandy,  punch  or  other  strong 
drinks  whatsoever,  in  less  quantities  than  three  gallons 
at  one  time  to  one  person.  This  law  also  forbade  the  sale 
of  intoxicants  to  Indians.  It  had  been  demonstrated  that 
the  use  of  intoxicants  not  only  made  them  a prey  to  dis- 


History  of  the 


2!f 

ease,  and  thus  destroyed  their  lives,  but  kept  them  in  a 
constant  state  of  rebellion  against  the  colonists. 

Prior  to  the  Revolution  all  spirituous  liquors  were  im- 
ported except  a small  quantity  of  domestic  wine  made 
from  molasses.  The  war  cutting  off  foreign  importation, 
caused  the  establishment  of  distilleries  at  home,  for  at 
that  time  alcoholic  liquors  were  regarded  as  an  abso- 
lute necessity  to  the  army,  not  only  because  it  was 
thought  that  they  contained  nourishing  food  properties, 
but  because  it  was  believed  that  they  incited  the  soldiers 
to  physical  bravery.  With  the  introduction  of  distill- 
eries, the  demoralizing  effect  of  war,  and  the  inebriety 
of  the  British  soldiery,  wholesale  debauchery  was  prac- 
ticed by  a great  mass  of  the  people.  Moral  standards 
became  so  low  that  many  preachers  and  school  teachers 
were  habitual  drunkards.  Of  this  period  Sidney 
Lanier  writes: 

“Priest  and  soldier  trilled  good  songs  for  mass, 

And  all  the  prayers  the  Priests  said  were 
‘Pray,  Drink!’ 

And  all  the  soldiers  swore  was, 

‘Drink!’ 

’Till  mirth  sat  like  a jaunty  postillion 
Upon  the  hack  of  time  and  urged  him  on.” 

The  laws  forbade  swearing,  gambling,  Sabbath 
breaking,  galloping  horses  through  the  streets;  but 
drinking  and  drunkenness,  which  provoked  these 
violations  were  allowed. 

In  1788,  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  the  cele- 
brated temperance  advocate,  traveled  through  Georgia, 
appealing  to  the  churches  with  burning  fervor  to  make 
abstinence  from  alcoholic  liquors  obligatoiw  on  the  part 


JAMES  EDWARD  OGLETHORPE, 
Founder  of  Colony  of  Georgia,  1733. 

'[From  an  Original  Engraving.] 


By  Courtesy  of 

Oglethorpe  Chapter,  D.  A.  R.,  Columbus,  Ga. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


25 


of  their  adherents.  The  year  1788  was  a red  letter  year 
in  the  temperance  movement  in  Georgia.  Dr.  Rush, 
not  only  with  his  powerful  and  convincing  logic  led 
manj’  in  the  churches  to  see  their  responsibility,  but 
the  great  Bishop  Asburj'  came  also  as  a mighty  promul- 
gator of  temperance  principles.  As  General  Superin- 
tendent of  Methodism,  he  practiced  and  preached  total 
abstinence,  and  at  the  same  time  saw  that  the  law 
of  his  church,  which  forbade  the  manufacture,  sale 
and  use  of  intoxicants  by  the  individual,  was  enforced. 
Perhaps  no  man  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles  has  given 
himself  more  fully  to  the  betterment  of  his  fellows  than 
this  saintly  hero  of  the  Cross.  Many  references  in  his 
Journal  reveal  an  agony  of  spirit  over  the  blighting  and 
destroying  power  of  alcohol.  Writing  from  North 
Carolina  in  July,  1780,  he  says:  “I  dwell  as  among 
scorpions  and  thorns:  the  people  are  poor  and  cruel  to 
one  another.  Some  families  have  corn  and  rj'^e  dis- 
tilled into  poisonous  whiskey  while  others  are  ready  to 
starve  for  want  of  bread.” 

In  1780,  when  the  Revolutionary  struggle  was  in  its 
most  critical  period;  when  morals  were  shamefully 
relaxed,  when  it  was  regarded  as  the  privilege  of  all, 
preachers  among  them,  to  partake  of  strong  drink. 
Bishop  Asbury  held  a firm  rein  in  guiding  the  member- 
ship of  his  denomination.  On  one  occasion  while  pre- 
siding over  the  American  Methodist  Conference,  he 
was  asked  if  our  “friends,  the  members,  shall  be  per- 
mitted to  make  spirituous  liquors  and  drink  them  in 
drams.”  no  means,”  said  he;  “We  think  it  wrong 

in  its  nature  and  consequence,  and  desire  all  our 


26 


History  of  the 


preachers  to  teach  the  people  by  precept  and  example 
to  put  away  this  evil.” 

The  rules  of  the  Methodist  Church,  written  by  John 
and  Charles  Wesley,  forbidding  the  sale,  manufacture 
and  use  of  ardent  spirits  as  a beverage,  did  more  to  bring 
the  great  masses  of  the  people  to  see  the  evil  of  intem- 
perance and  legislate  against  it  in  the  early  days,  than 
all  other  agencies  combined.  Revs.  James  Axlejs  Hope 
Hull,  Humphries,  John  Major  and  other  Methodist 
preachers  of  that  day  exhibited  a zeal  and  untiring  de- 
votion worthy  of  St.  Paul.  Through  heat  and  cold  they 
traveled  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea,  risking  their 
lives,  at  times,  by  exposure  to  wild  beasts  of  the  forest. 
Wherever  they  went  the  law  of  total  abstinence  was 
practiced  and  proclaimed.  This  was  so  universally 
done  that  many  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  of 
a later  period  were  slow  to  unite  with  the  temperance 
organizations  giving  as  their  reason  that  the  Methodist 
Church  was  as  strong  a temperance  society  as  could 
be  formed. 

In  1766  Dr.  Rush’s  powerful  treatise  on  “The  Effects 
of  Ardent  Spirits  Upon  the  Human  Rody  and  Mind,” 
stirred  his  (the  Presb3'terian)  Church  to  action,  and 
wonderfully  aroused  all  the  churches.  Although  the 
Baptist  Church  at  that  time  contained  no  law  against 
the  members  using  alcohol  as  a beverage,  it  was  the 
first  church  in  Georgia  to  organize  a society  to  create 
temperance  sentiment.  At  Eatonton,  Georgia,  in  July, 
1827,  Dr.  Adiel  Sherwood,  of  the  Eatonton  Baptist 
Church  and  Dr.  J.  H.  Campbell,  of  Columbus,  Georgia, 
(Baptist  Church),  organized  the  first  temperance 


27 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

society  in  the  State.  Rev.  Abner  W.  Clopton,  of  Vir- 
ginia, a Baptist  minister  of  remarkable  power,  drafted 
the  Constitution.  Dr.  Lovick  Pierce,  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  joined  hands  with  his  Baptist  brethren,  and 
one  year  later,  April,  1828,  at  Monticello,  Georgia,  the 
organization  of  the  State  Temperance  Society  was 
accomplished. 

Under  the  leadership  of  such  men  as  Judge  A.  B. 
Longstreet,  Judge  Joseph  H.  Lumpkin,  General  R.  C. 
Shorter,  Dr.  Adiel  Sherwood,  Judge  Thomas  Stocks,  and 
Dr.  Milton  Anthony,  the  seed  were  sown  which  brought 
forth  the  historic  “Moderation  Era.”  Temperance 
societies  were  formed  in  wellnigh  every  county.  After 
several  years  of  earnest  endeavor,  the  forces  realized 
the  need  of  legislation,  and  1838  became  known  as 
“Petition  Year.”  Various  states,  Georgia  among  them, 
began  to  petitition  the  legislatures  to  repeal  the  liquor 
license  law.  In  this  petition  work  Georgia  was  led  by 
that  sterling  Christian,  Josiah  Flournoy,  of  Putnam 
County.  His  heroic  and  unselfish  labors — leaving  his 
business  and  traveling  in  his  buggj^  from  one  end  of  the 
state  to  the  other,  securing  signatures,  and  at  every 
center  speaking  with  all  the  fervor  of  his  great  powers, 
amid  an  opposition  which  amounted  to  persecution, 
furnishes  an  instance  of  the  noblest  patriotism.  For 
a time  success  seemed  secured,  but  owing  to  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  press  and  politicians,  his  efforts  failed  in 
obtaining  the  repeal  of  Georgia’s  liquor  license  law,  but 
was  productive  of  great  good  in  causing  an  arrest  of 
thought  and  in  stimulating  higher  standards. 


28 


History  of  the 


This  movement  was  closely  followed  by  the  “Moral 
Suasion  Era,”  as  instituted  by  the  Washingtonians,  the 
fundamental  law  of  whose  organization  was  the  refor- 
mation of  the  drunkard.  It  swept  over  the  state  and 
nation  like  a prairie  fire,  and  for  a time  seemed  to  be 
the  comjilete  solution  of  the  drink  evil.  But  before  the 
movement  had  thoroughlj^  entrenched  itself,  some  of  its 
own  leaders  fell  bj^  drink,  and  it  soon  lost  its  hold  upon 
the  public  mind.  It  was  an  appeal  to  the  emotions 
exclusively  and  therefore  failed  of  its  purpose.  The 
“Sons  of  Temperance”  came  forward  to  meet  the  weak- 
ness of  the  “Washingtonians.”  It  was  instituted  upon 
a more  solid  basis  and  its  work  was  more  enduring. 
It  strengthened  the  bonds  of  temperance  among  all 
temperance  advocates  and  was  rapidly  gaining  in  num- 
bers and  influence  when  the  clouds  of  the  Civil  War 
burst  upon  it,  and  its  membership  was  scattered  by 
a call  to  arms. 

“The  Daughters  of  Temperance,”  affiliated  with  the 
“Sons  of  Temperance,”  had  representation  in  the  great 
Temperance  Conventions,  marched  with  the  procession 
bearing  banners  and  wearing  badges;  but  there  is  no 
evidence  of  full  membership  or  legal  right  to  share  in 
the  government  of  the  organization.  Professor  Henry 
A.  Scomp,  in  his  complete  and  accurate  “History  of 
Temperance  in  Georgia,”  states  that  “many  young 
ladies  used  stronger  arguments  than  merely  falling  in 
with  the  procession  to  advance  the  cause.  Lists  of 
assumed  names  with  post  offices,  were  banded  together 
under  mutual  pledge — that  they  would  marry  cold 
water  men  or  live  without  husbands.” 


29 


Georgia  IF.  C.  T.  U. 

In  1850  Georgia  was  blessed  with  a visit  from  that 
peerless  son  of  Ireland,  Father  Matthew,  whose  Christly 
service  in  the  temperance  cause  has  made  him  the  bene- 
factor of  the  wide  world.  Thousands  gave  up  drink 
under  his  mighty  appeals.  In  a single  da}'^  at  Augusta, 
Georgia,  he  secured  the  pledge  of  six  hundred  to  total 
abstinence. 

In  1855,  througout  the  United  States,  as  the  result  of 
temperance  education  for  two  and  a half  decades,  there 
developed  a sentiment  sufficiently  strong  to  cause  the 
various  orders — “Sons  of  Temperance,”  “Daughters  of 
Temperance,”  “Cadets  of  Temperance,” — to  have  hope 
of  obtaining  State  prohibition.  The  victory  of  state 
prohibition  achieved  in  Maine  had  intensified  the  fires 
of  the  temperance  hosts  of  Georgia,  as  in  many  other 
states.  A great  wave  of  burning  enthusiasm  swept 
over  the  nation  and  some  of  the  strongest  men  were 
loudly  demanding  state  prohibitory  law.  In  Georgia, 
the  State  Temperance  Convention,  met  in  Atlanta,  Feb- 
ruar}^  22nd,  1855,  and  nominated  the  Rev.  B.  H.  Overby, 
of  Fulton  County,  as  their  candidate  for  Governor. 
A strong  prohibition  platform  Avas  adopted  and  a 
vigorous  campaign  entered  upon.  The  wise  and  far- 
seeing  prohibitionists  from  the  beginning  felt  assured, 
or  practically  so,  that  the  democratic  nominee,  Hon.  H. 
V.  Johnson,  Avould  win,  but  if  defeated,  they  knew  the 
agitation  and  education  which  Avould  folloAv  Mr. 
Overby’s  powerful  appeals  to  conscience,  facts  and 
reason,  Avould  give  the  temperance  moA^ement  an  uplift 
as  could  nothing  else  at  that  time.  His  canvass  of  the 
State  AA'as  an  epoch  making  record  in  Georgia’s  temper- 


30 


History  of  the 

ance  annals.  Tiie  election  resulted  in  his  defeat  by 
48,398  votes,  but  the  agitation  gave  the  cause  tremend- 
ous momentum.  Had  not  the  Civil  War  scattered  the 
forces  it  is  probable  that  Georgia  with  other  states  of 
that  period  would  have  swept  the  liquor  traffic  from 
her  borders  before  the  first  cannon  was  fired  at  Fort 
Sumter. 

During  the  Confederacy  liquor  was  sometimes  issued 
to  the  soldiers.  This,  together  with  the  fact  that  impor- 
tation was  cut  off  by  the  enemy,  caused  many  to  distill 
their  grain,  fruits  and  vegetables  into  whiskey.  This 
was  so  extensively  done  that  in  1862,  Governor  Joseph 
E.  Brown  sent  a message  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
Georgia  recommending  that  a law  be  enacted  restrict- 
ing the  distillation  of  spirituous  liquors,  that  the  grain 
might  be  saved  for  the  army,  and  especially  that  bread 
might  be  provided  for  poor,  helpless  families,  and 
widows  and  orphans.  The  proclamation  was  heartily 
endorsed  by  the  State  at  large,  and  the  legislature 
passed  a measure  embodying  its  recommendations. 
The  historian  of  that  period  tells  us  however,  that  there 
was  one  class  of  Georgia’s  citizenship  who  were  abso- 
lutely unmoved  by  the  “general  suffering”  brought  on 
through  the  scarcity  of  bread  and  other  edibles;  these 
were  the  distillers. 

While  distillation  of  liquor  was  somewhat  cut  off  by 
the  legislation  during  the  war,  immediately  following, 
when  the  men  returned  to  restore  their  fortunes,  many 
resorted  to  distilling  spirituous  liquors  as  a speedy 
avenue  to  wealth.  Under  this  regime  drinking  and 
drunkenness  increased  to  an  appalling  extent.  This 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


31 


went  on  until  the  State  was  wellnigh  and  perhaps 
altogether  as  completely  bound  by  the  liquor  traffic  as 
at  any  time  within  her  history.  Men  of  the  higher  and 
nobler  type  were  everywhere  in  prayer  for  deliverance. 
Deliverance  came  in  part  at  least,  through  Britain’s 
brave  son — James  G.  Thrower.  He  organized  the 
“Good  Templars”  throughout  the  state  and  in  1869  two 
years  after,  formed  a Grand  Lodge  with  Dr.  E.  J.  Kirk- 
sey,  of  Columbus,  Georgia,  as  Chief  Templar.  This 
organization  rested  upon  a solid  basis,  it  stood  for  the 
absolute  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  “for  the 
election  of  good,  honest  men  to  administer  the  laws.” 
It  also  demanded  total  abstinence  by  the  individual 
from  all  intoxicating  liquors  as  a beverage. 

So  far  as  we  know  the  Good  Templars  was  the 
first  temperance  institution  which  admitted  women  into 
its  membership  on  an  equal  footing  with  men.  The 
early  record  states  that  much  of  the  “enthusiasm  and 
inspiration”  came  to  the  work  through  its  female  mem- 
bership. A thrilling  story  of  a woman’s  courage  is 
related  by  Dr.  G.  L.  Jones,  of  Florida,  son  of  “Uncle 
Dabney”  Jones,  who  was  perhaps  the  most  widely 
known  and  most  greatly  beloved  of  any  of  the  early 
temperance  champions.  “Uncle  Dabney”  had  an 
appointment  in  Bulloch  County  to  speak  for  temper- 
ance. An  immense  crowd  had  gathered,  among  them 
a set  of  “roughs”  who  declared  he  should  not  speak. 
As  he  arose  to  begin  his  address,  they  advanced  towards 
the  platform  with  heavy  sticks  in  hand;  just  before  they 
reached  the  speaker  a large  square  shouldered  woman 
sprang  to  her  feet,  and  said,  “If  you  get  to  him  you  will 


32 


History  of  the 


come  over  my  dead  body!”  Her  name  should  go  down 
in  history.  We  trust  that  Dr.  Jones  will  yet  find  who 
this  modern  Deborah  was,  that  future  generations  may 
give  honor  to  her  as  a heroine  of  the  truest  type. 

“The  Good  Templars”  enlisted  many  strong  young 
men  of  the  State,  among  them  W.  E.  H.  Searcy,  who 
gave  himself  unreservedly,  time,  means  and  talents  to 
the  work.  In  1870  he  moved  to  Griffin,  Georgia,  and 
])egan  the  publication  of  the  Watchman,  the  first  tem- 
perance paper  published  after  the  war.  Under  the 
leadership  of  his  paper  the  forces  were  unified  and 
greatly  strengthened.  Rev.  M.  J.  Gofer,  now  of  the 
Wesleyan  Advocate,  and  Mr.  J.  G.  Thrower,  were  his 
right  arms  in  this  forv/ard  movement.  To  this  noble 
trio — W.  E.  H.  Searc3%  M.  J.  Gofer  and  J.  G.  Thrower — 
is  due  a debt  of  gTatitude  that  Georgia  can  never  repa3\ 
Thej'  skillfull}'  handled  the  most  delicate  and  difficult 
questions  which  came  as  a result  of  the  war.  The  tem- 
perance organizations  of  that  period  all  were  of 
national  scope,  and  under  national  authority,  there 
were  no  state  rights,  every  question  had  to  be  referred 
to  the  great  head  of  the  order  before  action  could  be 
taken.  This  irksome  policy  became  distasteful  to  the 
South,  not  only  this  but  rules  allowing  the  interming- 
ling of  the  colored  people  as  private  and  official  mem- 
bers of  fhe  organization  caused  the  Southern  States  to 
call  for  a more  democratic  form  of  government  in 
which  each  state  would  enjoy  the  privilege  of  regulat- 
ing her  own  affairs.  The  South,  true  to  her  traditions 
while  entertaining  a hearty  goodwill  toward  her  colored 
brethren  and  sincerely  desiring  their  highest  develop- 


REV.  SAM  P.  JONES. 

The  Fearless  Apostle  of  World-Wide  Prohibition. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


33 


ment  in  the  temperance  work,  regarded  a commingled 
membership  of  white  and  colored  as  a mistaken  policy 
and  one  which  would  cripple  the  growth  of  the  colored 
members  and  greatly  hamper  the  whites  in  prosecuting 
the  best  interests  of  the  cause.  Therefore,  for  the  good 
of  each,  a Southern  Temperance  Convention  was 
called  in  1871  at  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  to  consider 
these  questions  and  some  others  of  less  importance. 
The  past  record  states  that  this  meeting  was  “well 
attended  and  the  proceedings  harmonious.”  This  is  a 
marked  tribute  to  the  consecration  of  the  leaders  of  that 
day  when  points  of  such  delicacy  and  difficulty  were  to 
be  weighed.  Later  other  councils  were  held  and  finally 
in  1873,  November  27th,  at  Chattanooga,  Tennessee, 
their  endeavors  crystalized  in  the  formation  of  the 
“United  Friends  of  Temperance,”  upon  a basis  of  union 
which  required  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence  from  all 
drinks  which  contained  the  least  trace  of  alcohol,  a 
guarantee  of  state  rights,  separate  orders  for  white 
and  colored,  the  prohibition  of  sectarian  and  political 
discussions  in  the  order,  and  duration  of  the  pledge  to 
be  left  optional  with  the  individual.  In  this  movement 
Rev.  W.  A.  Parks,  W.  E.  H.  Searcy,  M.  J.  Cofer,  J.  G. 
Thrower,  Hon.  C.  P.  Crawford,  C.  M.  Haddock,  H.  Clay 
Jones,  Dr.  W.  P.  Harrison,  W.  W.  Oslin,  J.  J.  Hickman, 
Dr.  E.  M.  Pendleton,  and  a host  of  others  of  a later 
period  did  valiant  service;  among  them,  that  strong 
apostle  of  truth— Rev.  Sam  P.  Jones. 

At  his  side  stood  a great  company  of  noblemen  such 
as  Henry  W.  Grady,  Atticus  G.  Haygood,  Henry  A. 
Scomp,  William  J.  Northen,  J.  B.  Hawthorne,  C.  R. 

(3) 


54 


History  of  the 


Pringle,  Dr.  William  H.  Felton,  Alfred  H.  Colquitt,  A.  J. 
Hughes — the  unfaltering  and  self-effacing  work  of  the 
last  named  champion  of  temperance  in  Georgia  would 
fill  a volume  in  ifself. 

Buf  are  fhese  all?  Nay,  verily,  only  a few  among  a 
mulfitude  mighfy  in  strength  and  purpose  who  vowed 
a vow  as  high  as  heaven  and  enduring  as  eternity  to 
drive  the  demon  alcohol  from  Georgia’s  fair  borders ! 

“One  blast  of  their  bugle  horn  was  worth  a thousand  men! 

0!  Glorious  sons  of  Georgia! 

Who  when  by  error’s  hosts  assailed, 

Stood  strong  as  truth  in  greaves  of  granite  mailed! 

And  tranquil  fronted,  listening  over  all 
The  tumult,  hear  the  angels  say, 

‘Well  done.’  ” 


CHAPTER  II. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  WOMAN’S  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION 

“mother  STEWART,”  INVITED  BY  GOOD  TEMPLARS,  ORGAN- 
IZES THE  FIRST  UNION  IN  ATLANTA,  1881 LOCAL  OPTION 

PETITIONS FRANCES  WILLARD  COMES LOCAL  OPTION  BILL 

DEFEATED  IN  JULY,  1881. 

And  Deborah  said  unto  Barak,  “Up;  for  this  is 
the  day  in  which  the  Lord  hath  delivered  Sisera  into 
thine  hand:  is  not  the  Lord  gone  out  before  thee?” 

— Judges  4:14. 

In  the  foregoing  chapter  we  have  given  a brief  resume 
of  the  early  temperance  work  in  Georgia  from  1733-1879 
showing  that  for  more  than  a hundred  years  the  bitter 
struggle  had  been  going  on  between  the  forces  of  right 
and  wrong.  It  is  seen  that  Georgia  v/as  not  only  born 
free  from  the  curse  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  preserved 
her  freedom  nine  years,  but  that  the  foundations  of  her 
government  were  laid  upon  truth  and  righteousness; 
that  from  the  first  day  she  looked  to  the  “everlasting 
hills”  and  the  Eternal  guided  her  destinies.  When  the 
powers  of  darkness  began  to  lay  hold  upon  her  through 
the  introduction  of  distilleries  and  the  repeal  of  her 
prohibitory  law,  it  is  seen  how  such  men  as  the  Wesleys, 
Whitfield,  Bishop  Asbury,  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush, 
Father  Matthew,  J.  N.  Stearns,  C.  M.  Mead,  John  B. 
Gough,  Abner  W.  Clopton,  Hewlitt,  Thrower  and  others, 
came  as  voices  in  the  night,  clear  and  strong,  arousing 


36 


History  of  the 

God’s  militant  hosts  and  leading  to  victory.  These 
powerful  levers  were  used  from  time  to  time,  at  every 
critical  stage  to  lift  the  burden  and  spirit  of  the  army. 
The  j^ear  1867  formed  one  of  these  critical  epochs.  The 
heavens  were  covered  in  darkness;  death  and  deso- 
lation enshrouded  the  Southland;  depression  and  bitter- 
ness seized  upon  the  strongest,  at  least  to  some  degree; 
the  Civil  War  had  wrought  its  fearful  work.  There  was 
a North  and  a South  but  no  Union  in  spirit.  The 
Southern  men  did  not  care  to  unite  with  the  Northern 
men  even  in  fighting  a common  foe;  this  feeling  was 
reciprocated  by  the  North.  Thus  the  temperance  ranks 
who  had  fought  together  so  valiantly  and  with  broth- 
erly kindness  prior  to  the  war  now  stood  apart. 

In  the  meantime  some  of  the  most  brilliant  minds 
were  deteriorating  under  the  deadly  poison  of  alcohol, 
everywhere  drinking,  and  in  consequence  a laxity  of 
morals  was  in  evidence.  The  North  and  the  South, 
the  East  and  the  West  were  in  sackcloth  and  ashes;  a 
cry  went  out  for  help.  God  heard  it  and  answered, 
not  by  calling  an  army  of  mighty  men,  but  holy  women 
to  unite  the  scattered  and  embittered  forces.  The 
“Good  Templars”  first  opened  their  doors  to  the  gentle 
knock  of  these  suffering  wives  and  mothers.  With 
love,  tenderness,  patience  and  wondrous  persuasion, 
they  quickened  their  brothers’  pulse,  inspired  their 
faith,  and  with  this  union  of  effort  the  temperance 
ranks  began  to  breathe  again. 

In  1873  a more  definite  call  came  to  the  women  of 
America  and  the  world  through  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  of 
Boston.  Under  his  irresistible  appeal,  baptized  with 


37 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

the  Holy  Spirit,  the  women  of  Hillsboro,  Washington 
Court  House  and  other  Illinois  and  Ohio  towns,  gath- 
ered in  the  streets,  and  marched  two  by  two,  into  the 
saloons  and  besought  the  saloon  keepers,  with  prayer 
and  tears,  to  give  up  their  destroying  business.  A 
noble  son  of  one  of  these  crusade  mothers  once  told 
the  writer  that  he  never  expected  to  look  upon  a more 
moving  scene  than  this  great  company  of  holy  women 
kneeling  on  the  snow  in  front  of  an  Ohio  saloon  praying 
God  to  so  bless  the  saloon  keeper  as  to  cause  him  to 
close  his  doors  forever.  They  were  in  such  agony  of 
spirit  over  the  redemption  of  their  husbands,  sons  and 
fathers  from  drink  that  like  St.  Simon  Stylites  they 
“battered  the  gates  of  heaven  with  storms  of  prayer,” 
and  God  answered  as  by  fire,  closing  two  hundred  and 
lift)''  saloons  in  fifty  days!  These  brave  heroines,  led 
by  Mrs.  Eliza  Thompson,  of  Hillsboro,  “Mother”  Stew- 
art, of  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  Mrs.  George  Carpenter,  of 
Washington  Court  House,  came  to  see  that  legal  suasion 
was  as  necessary  as  moral  suasion,  that  it  was  needful 
to  go  to  the  root  of  the  evil  which  was  embedded  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  government. 

In  1874,  November,  18-20,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  this 
conviction  developed  into  the  organization  of  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  was  to 
be  operated  under  a “Plan  of  Work,”  originated  by  its 
Corresponding  Secretary,  (Frances  E.  Willard),  having 
fifteen  subdivisions:  “1.  Organization,  2.  Making  Pub- 
lic Sentiment,  3.  Juvenile  Temperance  Societies,  4.  The 
Pledge,  5.  Unfermented  Sacramental  Wine,  6.  Anti- 
Treat  Leagues,  7.  Temperance  Coffee  Rooms,  8.  Homes 


38 


History  of  the 

for  Inebriate  Women,  9.  Reformed  Mens’  Club,  10. 
Bureau  of  Information,  11.  Counter  Attractions  at 
Home,  12.  Home  Missionary  Work,  13.  Gospel  Tem- 
perance Meetings,  14.  Money,  15.  Trysting  Time  with 
God.”  Every  state  in  the  Union  v.^as  canvassed  and 
organized.  The  earnest  men  of  the  “Good  Templars” 
opened  the  wa}^  for  organization  in  many  of  the  states, 
among  them  Georgia.  In  1880  they  invited  “Mother” 
Stewart,  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  to  come  to  Atlanta  and 
entertained  her  as  onlj^  Southern  chivalrj^  can.  On  April 
20th,  1880,  in  the  basement  of  the  Trinity  Methodist 
Church,  Atlanta,  Georgia’s  first  local  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Union  was  organized  by  this  saintlj' 
woman  of  the  Crusades.  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes,  the 
first  Secretary  of  the  Georgia  Woman’s  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union,  and  one  of  the  truest,  bravest  and  most 
indefatigable  in  labors  the  organization  has  known, 
gives  an  account  of  this  Union  in  her  history  of  the 
early  work  in  Georgia.  After  stating  the  date  and 
place  of  organization,  she  says:  “Mrs.  Alfred  H.  Col- 
quitt, wife  of  Governor  Colquitt,  was  elected  President, 
but  declined  to  serve,  she,  however,  proffered  the  use 
of  the  parlors  of  the  Executive  Mansion  as  a place  of 
meeting  for  the  Union.  There  being  no  acting  Presi- 
dent, the  Union  was  served  during  its  first  year  by  its 
Vice-Presidents — Mrs.  A.  C.  Kiddo,  Mrs.  Jonathan  Nor- 
cross,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Thrower,  Mrs.  A.  P.  Wells,  and  Mrs. 
Mary  E.  Howes.  Mrs.  E.  M.  Hammond  was  elected 
Secretary,  and  Mrs.  W.  R.  Hammond,  Treasurer.  Dur- 
ing the  first  fewmonths  the  meetings  were  almost  wholly 
devotional.  The  members  felt  most  keenly  their  utter 


39 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

insufficiency,  but  as  they  prayed,  God  led  the  way.  Just 
prior  to  the  Holidays,  in  1880,  a committee  was  commis- 
sioned by  the  Union  to  visit  the  clergy  of  the  city,  and 
request  them  to  read  from  their  pulpits  a pledge  obli- 
gating all  who  signed  it,  not  to  offer  intoxicating  drinks 
to  visitors  or  callers  during  Christmas.  The  request 
was  granted  by  nearly  all  of  the  ministers  and  many 
signatures  obtained.  About  the  middle  of  February, 
1881,  the  Union  appealed  to  the  pastors  of  the  city  to 
hold  a series  of  Gospel  Temperance  Meetings.  The 
ministry  cheerfully  responded,  as  thej'^  always  do,  to 
every  holy  movement.  The  first  of  the  series  was  held 
by  Rev.  Clement  A.  Evans,  Ex-Confederate  General, 
and  at  that  time  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist  Church 
in  Atlanta.  These  meetings  continued  at  intervals  until 
nine  had  been  held  successfully  under  the  following 
pastorates:  Rev.  W.  F.  Robinson,  at  Sixth  Street 
Methodist;  Rev.  Virgil  Norcross,  at  Fifth  Baptist;  Rev. 
W.  C.  Dunlap,  at  St.  Paul  Methodist;  Rev.  Hughes,  at 
Payne’s  Chapel  Methodist;  Rev.  J.  R.  Cooke,  Marietta 
Street  Methodist;  Rev.  H.  C.  Christia,  Evan’s  Chapel 
Methodist;  Rev.  J.  C.  Berrien,  Protestant  Methodist,  and 
Rev.  G.  A.  Nunally  at  Second  Baptist.  These  services 
were  largely  attended,  impressive  and  effective.  They 
marked  the  first  permanent  uplift  given  the  temper- 
ance cause  in  Atlanta  by  the  Union.  The  clear,  strong 
presentation  of  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures  on  the 
temperance  question  brought  an  arrest  of  thought  and 
wonderfully  quickened  the  interest  of  apparently  all 
who  came  under  their  influence. 


kO  History  of  the 

“On  the  10th  of  February,  1881,  at  the  request  of 
Judge  John  C.  Cunningham,  the  Union  adopted  a reso- 
lution asking  that  the  Georgia  Legislature  be  at  its  next 
session  memorialized  to  pass  a General  Local  Option 
Law,  allowing  the  qualified  voters  of  the  State  to  decide 
by  ballot  whether  they  will  prohibit  the  sale  of  intoxicat- 
ing liquors  except  for  medicinal,  mechanical,  and  sacra- 
mental purposes,  in  their  several  localities.  At  the  next 
meeting  the  resolution  was  adopted  and  the  Union 
pledged  to  send  copies  of  the  petition  to  every  com- 
munity in  the  State.  The  text  of  the  petition  was  as 
follows: 

“In  view  of  the  misery,  poverty  and  crime,  resulting 
from  intemperance  we,  the  undersigned  citizens  of  the 

State  of  Georgia,  residing  in  the  County  of 

do  most  earnestly  petition  you  in  favor  of  the  passage 
of  a law  allowing  the  qualified  voters  of  the  cities, 
towns,  counties  and  militia  districts,  at  any  election 
held  therein,  (except  in  the  localities  where  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquors  is  already  prohibited  by  law),  to 
decide  by  ballot  whether  they  will  prohibit  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquors,  except  for  medicinal,  mechanical, 
and  sacramental  purposes,  in  their  several  localities.” 

Between  six  and  seven  thousand  of  these  petitions 
were  sent  out  by  the  Atlanta  Union.  As  they  went  they 
were  made  holy  by  the  prayers  of  every  White  Ribbon 
mother  and  daughter  in  the  Union.  Through  earnest 
and  concerted  action  on  the  part  of  the  “Good  Temp- 
lars,” the  clergy,  the  press  and  hundreds  of  devoted 
men  and  women  throughout  the  State,  37,000  signatures 
were  obtained  in  the  short  space  of  three  months!  In 


MISS  MISSOURI  H.  STOKES, 
of  Decatur,  Ga. 

State  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 
1883-1892. 


'■t'- , 


: - - 


;u^ 

f 


‘f\  ':r’.;< ‘ 

•'.  \ ■ i'  *•■ 


P 

■:■ 

♦ 


41 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

the  canvass  it  was  found  that  the  white  voters  of  many 
counties  stood  solidly  for  prohibition  and  were  eager 
for  the  opportunity  of  voting  on  the  question.  Under 
this  rising  tide  of  temperance  sentiment  the  Union  felt 
the  force  of  Brutus’  words  to  Cassius : 

“There  is  a tide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 

Which  taken  at  the  flood  leads  on  to  fortune; 
Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 
Is  hound  in  shallows  and  in  miseries, 

On  such  a full  sea  are  we  now  afloat; 

We  must  take  the  current  when  it  serves. 

Or  lose  our  ventures.” 

Having  this  conviction,  though  in  poverty  and  few 
in  numbers  the  Atlanta  Union  wrote  Frances  E Willard, 
President  of  the  National  Woman’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  the  situation  and  invited  her  to  come  to  the 
rescue.  Who  that  knew  Frances  E.  Willard  doubts 
that  she  came,  not  only  as  a woman  pleading  for  the 
lost  and  erring,  but  as  a queen  of  grace  and  purity,  as 
the  incarnation  of  delicacy  and  refinement,  as  the  em- 
bodying of  all  the  high  ideals  for  centuries  held  by  the 
South  touching  woman’s  relation  to  the  outside  world. 
Graceful  in  bearing,  gentle  in  spirit,  with  musical  voice 
and  filled  with  the  love  of  Christ,  is  there  wonder  that 
such  a woman  should  be  “received  with  enthusiasm?” 
She  v/as  assigned  to  elegant  apartments  at  the  Kimball 
House  and  entertained  at  the  Governor’s  Mansion.  Of 
her  reception  Miss  Willard  says: 

“I  spoke  on  Sunday  evening  at  the  Methodist  Church, 
to  which  Governor  Colquitt  belonged,  and  was  wel- 
comed by  him  with  a warm  eloquence  not  excelled  by 


42 


History  of  the 


any  greeting  I have  received.  He  spoke  of  the  North 
and  the  South  and  of  the  claim  that  had  been  made 
that  nothing  could  unite  them  except  a foreign  war  in 
which  they  would  make  a common  cause  against  a 
common  invader.  ‘But,’  he  said,  ‘we  need  no  such 
calamity  to  make  us  once  more  one  people;  there  is  a 
foe  at  everj^  hearthstone,  a danger  lurking  in  every 
community,  which  ought  to  make  us  brothers.  Uniting 
we  can  put  the  liquor  traffic  down,  and  we  will  put  it 
down!  The  women  must  help  us;  they  are  willing  to 
do  so;  thej^  are  to  be  our  best  allies.’  Then  turning  to 
me,  a Northern  stranger  as  I was,  and  with  all  a broth- 
er’s kindness  he  welcomed  me  to  Georgia  and  thanked 
me  that  I had  come.” 

Only  those  who  understand  Southern  chivalry', 
glorified  by  the  strength  and  purity  of  a consecrated 
manhood,  can  fullj^  appreciate  the  warmth  and 
graciousness  of  Governor  Colquitt’s  cordiality  to  this 
queen  among  women.  Miss  Willard’s  modesty  restrains 
her  from  any  reference  to  the  work  she  did  while  in 
Atlanta,  but  from  another’s  pen  we  learn  that  though 
three  days  only  in  the  city,  she  spoke  eight  times  to  im- 
mense crowds,  at  Marietta  Street  Methodist  Church, 
Trinity  Methodist  Church  and  at  DeGive’s  Opera  House. 
Her  copious  knowledge  of  historical  facts  touching  the 
principles  which  must  support  a stable  government, 
showing  how  the  nations  of  the  past  who  turned  away 
from  truth  and  righteousness  went  down  in  darkness, 
her  invincible  logic  proving  that  the  foundations  of  a 
Commonwealth  must  be  laid  upon  morality  to  be  endur- 
ing, powerfully  appealed  to  her  hearers.  With  strong 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  4^5 

intellectual  equipment,  womanly  graciousness  and 
Christly  spirit  she  became  a benediction  to  the  cause 
wherever  she  went  in  Georgia.  She  was  a “chosen 
vessel”  to  break  the  bonds  of  prejudice  against  woman’s 
larger  activities,  her  gentle,  persuasive  eloquence, 
inherent  modest}^  and  native  tactfulness,  together  with 
the  unmistakable  evidence  that  God  was  leading  and 
empowering  her  to  do  His  work,  marked  her  as  the  one 
woman  to  open  the  way  in  the  South.  Men  and  women 
alike  witnessed  the  seal  of  God’s  approval  rested  upon 
her  labors,  that  the  platform  did  not  rob  her  of  the 
tender  grace  which  characterizes  the  highest  type  of 
womanhood,  that  women  were  capable  of  creating  a 
logical  argument  against  the  tyranny  of  the  liquor  traf- 
fic; that  as  Governor  Colquitt  said  prophetically,  “The 
women  are  to  be  our  best  allies.”  It  is  seen  therefore, 
that  Miss  Willard’s  arraignment  of  the  liquor  traffic  was 
but  a small  part  of  her  work  in  Georgia  and  elsewhere; 
as  she  w^ent  from  place  to  place  she  began  to  be  recog- 
nized as  the  daughter  of  a new  chivalry,  and  the  noble 
men  of  the  South  and  East  w'here  there  existed  such 
great  prejudice  against  women  appearing  in  public, 
began  to  see  that  a gallantry  that  only  protected  their 
wives  and  mothers  from  public  glare  was  not  of  the 
highest  order,  the  men  of  heathen  lands  stood  at  the 
head  of  such  an  ideal  as  that.  They  saw  that  the 
noblest  knighthood  was  to  break  every  yoke  and  open 
the  prison  door  to  every  captive,  and  instead  of  hinder- 
ing or  forbidding  they  must  invite  the  help  of  their 
sisters  in  the  consummation  of  so  holy  a mission. 


44  History  of  the 

After  Miss  Willard’s  first  visit  to  Georgia  the  women 
were  less  fearful  in  undertaking  public  work.  Those 
who  had  never  heard  their  own  voices  in  a public 
assemblage  except  perhaps  in  a brief  testimony  in  a 
Methodist  “love  feast,”  found  themselves  speaking 
before  mixed  audiences.  It  was  not  so  much  the 
example  set  by  Frances  Willard,  however,  as  a con- 
sciousness of  duty.  It  was  a “still  small  voice”  calling 
all  women  to  join  their  brothers  in  the  protection  of 
the  Home,  a call  so  irresistible  that  many  felt  “woe  is 
me”  if  I refuse  obedience.  In  answer  to  this  commis- 
sion, a number  of  the  most  faithful  the  organization 
has  known,  came  into  the  Union  and  joined  hands  with 
the  work  of  circulating  the  Local  Option  Petition. 
Under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  Jonathan  Norcross,  Mrs. 
M.  E.  Howes,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Kiddo,  Mrs.  S.  M.  Hammond, 
Mrs.  A.  P.  Wells,  Mrs.  H.  A.  Auten,  Mrs.  S.  A.  Kilby, 
Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter  and  Miss  Stokes,  hundreds  of  petitions 
were  sent  out  to  every  section  of  the  State,  and  every 
street  in  the  city  was  canvassed  to  secure  signatures. 
In  addition  to  the  work  for  the  petition,  vast  quanti- 
ties of  temperance  literature  was  distributed  by  hand, 
and  placed  in  boxes  at  different  centers  in  the  city.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  each  member  was  sup- 
plied with  literature  proving  it  to  be  the  wish  of  the 
people  of  Georgia  to  have  the  right  given  them  by  the 
General  Assembly  to  vote  on  the  liquor  question  as  set 
forth  in  the  Petition. 

As  the  temperance  men  of  the  State  had  from  the  first 
recognized  the  power  of  woman’s  influence  in  the  cause 
and  had  so  gallantly  opened  the  way  at  ever^"  junction. 


45 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

in  line  with  their  former  actions,  on  July  4th,  1881,  the 
State  Temperance  Convention  held  in  the  Capitol 
invited  the  members  of  the  Union  to  attend  in  a body, 
which  they  gladly  did  and  were  received  with  marked 
courtesy  and  represented  in  a fervent  address  by  Judge 
D.  Cunningham. 

While  the  infant  Union  in  Atlanta  was  working  so 
diligently  for  the  passage  of  the  Local  Option  Bill, 
Savannah,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  Charles  P. 
Greene,  Augusta  under  Mrs.  William  C.  Sibley,  Rome 
under  Mrs.  Mary  Shropshire  and  Mrs.  W.  W.  Ford,  were 
through  their  Unions,  laboring  also  “in  season  and  out 
of  season”  to  the  same  end.  As  a recompense  of  the 
faithful  toil  on  the  part  of  the  Unions  at  the  different 
points  named,  the  first  Red  Letter  Day  of  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  dawned  July  14th,  1881. 
It  was  the  day  the  Local  Option  Bill  was  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Georgia  Legislature  by  that  princely  noble- 
man, Colonel  William  J.  Northen,  of  Hancock  County. 
The  Unions  throughout  the  State  had  chosen  him  as 
their  representative  to  present  the  memorial  and 
address  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  both  because 
of  his  vigorous  temperance  principles  and  his  stainless 
Christian  character.  The  galleries  had  been  filled  with 
White  Ribboners  long  before  the  hour,  who  sat  with 
fast  beating  hearts  in  fervent  prayer  that  God  would 
speak  through  their  ambassador  to  the  conscience  of 
every  member  of  the  House.  As  Colonel  Northen  arose 
he  said : “Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives:  I move  to  suspend  the  rules  that  1 
may  submit  a memorial  of  no  ordinary  interest.  I am 


46 


History  of  the 

aware  that  it  is  an  unusual  proceeding,  but  am  sure  it 
will  be  received  with  pleasure.  1 hold  before  me 
(raising  the  memorial),  the  evidence  of  the  work  of  the 
Christian  women  of  Georgia.  While  we  have  been  tr\dng 
to  build  up  the  material  resources  of  the  State  they  have 
gone  into  our  homes  and  found  ruin  and  sorrow — 
strong  men  found  humbled,  young  men  with  brilliant 
intellects  and  high  hopes  wrecked  before  life’s  morn- 
ing is  passed;  little  ones  crying!  God  pity  us  in  our 
desolation.  For  such  women — our  wives  and  mothers 
— can  we  speak  too  much?  They  come  to  bring  joy 
where  there  has  been  sorrow,  they  come  to  bring  sun- 
shine where  there  has  been  darkness,  they  come  as  the 
harbingers  of  the  day  when  the  angels  shall  again 
proclaim  peace  and  good  will  to  man.  I move  that  by 
a rising  vote  the  rules  of  the  House  be  suspended,  that 
this  memorial  for  a General  Local  Option  Law  may  be 
displayed,  and  then  referred  to  the  Special  Committee 
on  Temperance.”  The  memorial  was  sent  up  in  a 
large  basket  from  which  it  was  unfurled,  filling  every 
aisle,  and  leaving  a sufficiency  to  cover  a good  sized 
room.  It  was  sixteen  hundred  feet  long  and  contained 
30,000  names  from  every  county  in  the  State.  The 
following  day  the  petition  was  presented  to  the  Senate 
in  an  impassioned  speech  by  Colonel  W.  P.  Price,  of 
Dahlonega.  The  Union  was  present  in  full  force  and 
during  Colonel  Price’s  address,  showered  boquets  upon 
him  from  the  gallery.  It  was  referred  to  a special 
committee  and  at  that  session  of  1881  passed  the  Senate 
but  was  defeated  in  the  House. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  47 

The  failure  to  secure  the  enactment  of  the  Local 
Option  Bill  was  the  first  great  trial  of  the  Union.  The 
forces  were  sifted,  “many  walked  with  them  no  more,” 
the  occasion  of  stumbling  had  come,  God  had  trusted 
them  to  do  a difficult  task  and  they  had  failed.  In  the 
glare  of  glory  and  prospective  success,  they  stood  by 
their  colors,  but  when  defeat  with  its  humiliation,  criti- 
cisms, and  misjudgments  came,  they  lowered  the  flag 
and  fell  back  before  the  enemy.  After  that  the  chaff 
was  separated  from  the  wheat,  the  few  golden  grains 
that  were  found  with  its  marvelous  reproducing  power, 
was  rich  reward  for  every  effort  which  had  been  put 
forth.  The  “faithful  few”  came  forth  “refined  gold,” 
their  “souls  had  been  washed  pure  by  many  weepings.” 
In  poverty,  wellnigh  friendless,  misunderstood,  they 
gathered  in  that  “upper  room”  on  Whitehall  Street, 
made  sacred  by  God’s  presence,  for  counsel  and  prayer. 
As  they  knelt  around  the  mercy  seat  a deepened  con- 
viction took  hold  of  them  that  something  had  to  be 
done  to  stay  the  tide  of  intemperance,  especially  in 
Atlanta,  where  wickedness  seemed  to  be  growing  with 
its  growth  engulfing  even  beardless  boys  in  its  ruin. 
They  were  “led  by  ways  they  had  not  known.”  In 
March  of  1882,  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  H.  A.  Auten, 
they  established  a Mission  Temperance  Sunday  School, 
at  Engine  House  No.  5,  near  the  junction  of  Marietta 
and  Foundry  Streets — a locality  known  as  Brooklyn, 
and  regarded  from  the  number  of  bar  rooms,  as  one 
of  the  worst  places  in  Atlanta.  In  a short  time  there- 
after, the  Union  began  to  hold  a series  of  gospel  tem- 
perance meetings.  Such  was  the  interest  created  that 


^8  History  of  the 

the  house  would  not  seat  the  crowds  and  the  Sunday 
School  was  transferred  to  the  Red  Men’s  Hall  on 
Marietta  Street  just  over  a liquor  saloon.  The  poor 
and  degraded  classes  began  to  be  reached  and  it  seemed 
that  God  was  guiding  them  to  the  very  men  and  women 
whom  they  had  so  longed  to  help  when  they  were 
courteously  informed  that  they  must  discontinue  their 
meetings  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  they  interfered 
with  the  business  of  the  saloon.  The  saloon  keeper 
declared  that  he  could  not  “sell  hell  and  damnation 
below  while  those  women  were  singing  and  praying 
above.”  As  he  had  rented  the  property  he  claimed 
that  he  had  a right  to  be  heard.  The  faithful  praying 
band  returned  to  the  Engine  House  and  continued  their 
noble  work  for  three  years.  During  that  period  seed 
were  sown  which  yielded  a harvest  unto  eternal  life. 
This  was  an  epoch  making  hour  in  the  history  of  the 
Atlanta  Union.  By  every  token  Satan  endeavored  to 
break  their  ranks.  But  a few  determined  spirits, 
notably  Mrs.  A.  H.  Auten,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter  and  Miss  M. 
H.  Stokes,  went  through  heat  and  cold,  driven  from  one 
point,  they  sought  another;  the  consuming  love  of 
Christ  for  lost  souls  so  pervaded  them  that  they  forgot 
their  timidity  and  plead  with  the  erring  with  tearful 
eyes  and  burning  hearts,  they  “counted  all  things  but 
lost  for  the  excellency  of  Christ  Jesus  their  Lord.”  In 
the  heavens  above  these  uncrowned  queens  of  God’s 
Kingdom  will  shine  as  stars  forever  and  ever. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1882,  the  Union 
arranged  for  a series  of  public  lectures  to  be  given  by 
the  representative  men  and  women  in  the  temperance 


MRS.  E.  C.  WITTER. 

President  of  the  Atlanta  W.  C.  T.  U.  (the  old  original  Union) 

1882-1902. 


49 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

cause.  United  and  persistent  effort  was  put  forth  to 
secure  the  best.  The  first  of  the  series  was  held  in  the 
Marietta  Street  Methodist  Church  and  addressed  by 
Governor  Colquitt  and  Dr.  Allen  Curr.  Great  power 
and  enthusiasm  rested  upon  the  service.  This  meeting 
was  followed  by  many  others  of  unusual  interest  at 
different  points  in  the  city.  Bishop  Warren,  of  the 
Northern  Methodist  Church,  J.  N.  Stearns,  of  the  Na- 
tional Temperance  Society,  and  Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin, 
of  South  Carolina,  and  Superintendent  of  Southern 
Work  for  the  National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  all  came  “in  power  and  demonstration  of  the 
Spirit.”  Many  others  less  notable,  but  not  less  earnest, 
spake  as  the  Spirit  gave  utterance,  among  them  was 
Rev.  J.  R.  Cooke,  Miss  Mary  Wadsworth,  Mrs.  Oliver, 
Mrs.  McClellan  Brown  and  Mrs.  J.  N.  Thompson. 

In  the  summer  of  1882  the  Union  was  requested  by 
the  State  Temperance  Alliance  to  again  aid  in  securing 
signatures  to  a petition  for  a General  Local  Option 
Law  to  be  presented  to  the  Legislature  at  its  approach- 
ing session  in  November.  As  in  the  first  instance,  they 
responded  with  eager  hearts  and  willing  hands.  The 
city  was  divided  into  districts  and  so  assiduously  did 
they  labor  that  several  thousand  names  were  secured 
in  a few  weeks. 

On  November  25th,  1882,  the  State  Liquor  Dealers 
Protective  Association  met  in  Atlanta.  As  they  gathered 
to  plan  for  the  strengthening  of  their  traffic,  which  is 
the  greatest  enemy  of  the  Home,  these  wives,  mothers 
and  daughters  gathered  also  to  pray  that  God  might 

bring  their  counsel  to  naught.  Miss  Stokes,  our  early 

(4) 


50 


History  of  the 

historian,  declares  that  a direct  answer  to  their  prayers 
was  received  in  the  “Contradictory  resolutions  passed 
hy  their  Association.”  The  weapons  of  these  women 
were  not  carnal,  but  mighty,  through  God,  to  the  pull- 
ing down  of  strongholds!  That  little  unknown,  poor, 
struggling  Union,  had  not  called  upon  God  in  vain  as 
they,  after  the  defeat  of  the  Local  Option  Bill,  went  to 
the  “upper  room”  for  guidance.  Bishop  Warren,  in 
the  prime  of  his  great  manhood,  v^as  sent  to  their  rescue 
with  a masterful  utterance;  Governor  Colquitt  came 
with  a flaming  sword  against  the  liquor  traffic,  and 
Sallie  F,  Chapin,  that  queenly  woman  of  the  South, 
or  perhaps  we  should  rather  say,  that  mighty  Deborah 
of  modern  times,  who  swayed  the  multitudes  with  the 
convincing  power  of  her  eloquent  logic.  These,  with 
others,  earnest  and  strong,  came  to  blaze  the  way  for 
State  Prohibition. 

Here  ends  the  golden  record  of  the  first  work  of  the 
first  local  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  in 
Georgia.  It  is  only  partially  recorded,  the  sum  total 
will  not  be  known  until  it  is  read  from  the  Book  of 
Life. 


CHAPTER  III. 


god’s  call  to  V^^OMEN — STATE  ORGANIZATION — FIRST  CON- 
VENTION MEETS  IN  ATLANTA  JANUARY  IItH,  1883,  MRS. 

WILLIAM  C.  SIBLEY,  PRESIDENT FRANCES  E.  WILLARD  AND 

MRS.  SALLIE  F.  CHAPIN  ARE  THE  SPEAKERS — LOCAL  OPTION 

PETITIONS  CONTINUE  BUT  BILL  DEFEATED  A SECOND  TIME 

SECOND  GEORGIA  W.  C.  T.  U.  CONVENTION  AT  AUGUSTA  IN 

1884. 


Behold  I set  before  thee  an  open  door. 

—Rev.  3:8. 

No\vhere  in  history  is  the  hand  of  God  more  clearly 
seen  than  in  the  movements  which  gradually  brought 
about  woman’s  development.  Christ  first  unlocked  the 
doors  which  held  her  captive  to  ignorance  and  super- 
stition. Schools  and  colleges  were  founded  for  her 
training,  inventions  were  made  which  gave  her  leisure; 
as  in  the  case  of  the  sewing  machine,  cotton  gin,  and 
cotton  factory.  Almost  immediately  following  these 
conditions  came  a demand  for  her  distinctive  gifts  as 
teacher  in  sacred  and  secular  schools,  in  missionary 
work  at  home  and  abroad.  It  was  seen  that  a great 
system  of  education  needed  to  be  established  which 
would  begin  at  the  very  foundations  of  character  in  the 
mind  of  the  child.  This  was  a clear  call  to  women. 
Their  native  endowments,  with  years  of  mental  train- 
ing, qualified  them  as  no  other  to  perform  this  all  im- 
portant duty.  As  Julienne  Hayes,  of  Baltimore,  Mary- 


52 


History  of  the 

land,  saw  this  door  of  unlimited  usefulness  standing 
ajar,  she  offered  herself  as  a leader  of  the  Woman’s 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  which,  through  thirty 
years,  sowed  the  seed  for  the  great  harvest  which  we 
are  now  reaping  in  the  Laymen’s  Missionary  Movement. 
When  Frances  Willard  about  the  same  time  saw  how 
all  temperance  organizations  had  failed  to  a large 
extent  because  of  a lack  of  preventive  measures,  she 
was  led  to  formulate  a “Plan  of  Work”  which  has  revo- 
lutionized the  thought  of  the  world  on  the  subject  of 
temperance,  and  developed  the  most  invincible  set  of 
men  touching  prohibitory  law  known  to  history — the 
Anti-Saloon  League. 

While  God  was  calling  leaders  among  women  for 
these  and  other  great  enterprises.  He  was  at  the  same 
time  moving  the  hearts  of  all  Christian  women  to  pre- 
sent themselves  for  service.  Thus  a two-fold  influence 
was  brought  to  bear — the  calling  of  some  to  lead  and 
the  calling  of  many  to  follow.  This  was  ever  the  Divine 
method.  As  Peter  was  given  a vision  of  dutj',  Corne- 
lius was  at  the  same  hour  commanded  to  send  for 
Peter.  As  Frances  Willard  was  led  to  visit  the  States 
and  organize  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  the  Spirit  suggested  to  the  mind  of  manj’  Chris- 
tian women  throughout  the  United  States  the  need  of 
concerted  action  on  the  part  of  the  women  against  the 
liquor  traffic.  This  is  the  true  explanation  of  Miss 
Willard’s  warm  reception  in  the  conservative  South. 
Had  not  God  gone  before,  she  nor  any  other  human 
being  could  have  induced  the  timid,  reticent  women  of 
Georgia  and  other  Southern  States,  with  their  precon- 


53 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

ceived  ideas  of  woman’s  sphere,  to  have  left  their  homes 
and  engaged  in  a work  which  called  for  public  activity. 
God  spoke  and  they  obeyed.  In  a letter  written  by  Miss 
Willard  to  the  New  York  Independent,  on  April  21st, 
1881,  a year  prior  to  the  State  organization  of  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  in  Georgia,  she 
gives  a vivid  pen  picture  of  her  Southern  reception  in 
which  it  is  manifest  that  the  bond  of  sisterhood  had 
sprung  up  even  though  they  had  not  seen  her  face. 
“The  Southern  people,”  says  she,  “have  received  me 
as  a sister,  beloved  for  the  work’s  sake.  The  utter- 
most kindness  has  been  shown  me  by  the  friends  of 
temperance,  a cordial  co-operation  from  the  most  lib- 
eral minded  of  the  clergy,  and  on  the  part  of  the  women, 
a sisterly  welcome  that  crowns  each  day  with  thanks- 
giving and  crowds  friendship’s  casket  with  choicest 
jewels.  It  has  been  said  that  the  opposition  in  the 
South  to  hearing  ladies  speak  was  deep  and  resolute. 
This  is  not  so.  Churches  as  a rule  were  opened  no  less 
frequently  than  at  the  North.  Ministers  of  the  differ- 
ent denominations  conducted  the  devotional  services, 
and  the  audiences  were  large  and  to  the  last  degree 
kind.  Whenever  members  were  called  for  and  papers 
circulated  with  the  pledge  for  men  and  women,  the 
response  was  much  more  general  than  with  us.  It  had 
been  said  that  the  expectation  of  securing  associated 
effort  on  the  temperance  line  from  Southern  women 
was  quite  Utopian;  but  instead  of  this  they  have  been 
uniformly  earnest  and  responsive,  beyond  what  is  usual 
in  the  North.  True  they  have  given  immediate  notice 
that  they  could  not  speak  in  public,  which  is  the 


54 


History  of  the 


smallest  part  of  the  work;  but  at  the  same  time  have 
entered  in  with  the  utmost  intelligence  and  heartiness 
into  our  plans  of  securing  pledges,  lending  out  of  tem- 
perance books,  planning  for  public  meetings  to  be 
addressed  by  gentlemen,  etc.  When  I have  noticed  the 
marvelous  facility  for  utterance,  the  delicacy  of  appre- 
ciation, the  varied  vocabulary,  and  rare  insight  of  these 
ladies,  I have  felt  that  in  it  all  there  is  a prophecy  of 
such  achievement  in  the  art  of  public  as  well  as  private 
persuasion  as  would  dim  the  laurels  of  their  Northern 
sisters  if  a sacred  emulation  did  not  rescue  us.  I could 
name  ladies  in  all  of  the  chief  cities  of  the  South  who 
are  no  less  worthy  to  become  leaders  of  their  people 
than  was  Deborah  of  old.” 

Two  3"ears  later  when  the  State  work  of  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  was  organized  in  Georgia, 
Frances  Willard’s  prophecy  became  a veritable  reality. 
Those  who  witnessed  the  ease,  gentleness  of  manner, 
sweetness  of  spirit,  and  power  of  utterance  which  char- 
acterized the  first  President  of  the  Georgia  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union — Mrs.  William  C.  Sibley, 
will  readily  agree  that  God  had  set  her  apart  as  a 
leader  of  her  people.  She  Avas  a providential  woman 
peculiarly  endowed  with  the  qualifications  which  that 
stage  of  the  work  demanded.  A woman  of  less  gentle- 
ness, less  grace,  less  delicacy,  less  softness  of  voice,  and 
the  graciousness  of  bearing,  less  devoted  to  her  home 
and  children,  wovdd  have  failed  utterly  to  enlist 
Southern  men  and  especially  Southern  women.  She 
was  typical  of  the  South’s  high  ideals,  governed  by  a 
tenderness  and  modesty  that  became  the  charm  of  all 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


55 


she  said  and  did.  We  remember  as  if  it  were  yester- 
day, the  first  Convention  over  which  she  presided.  As 
she  gave  her  annual  message  with  trembling,  yet  admir- 
ably modulated  voice,  standing  before  her  hearers  the 
embodiment  of  humility,  the  living  expression  of 
earnestness,  all  hearts  instinctively  felt  that  God  had 
anointed  her  for  this  special  ministry.  Her  character 
contained  no  jarring  elements;  a nature  of  tactfulness, 
a noble  unselfishness,  a consuming  zeal,  a fluency  of 
speech  in  speaking  and  in  writing,  together  with  the 
attributes  of  the  highest  type  of  womanhood  made  her 
a leader  of  superior  excellence.  Miss  Willard,  with  her 
quick  discernment  and  wonderful  ability  in  adjusting 
women  to  work,  at  once  perceived  Mrs.  Sibley’s  pre- 
eminent fitness  for  leadership.  In  1881  she  invited  Mrs. 
Sibleyand  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes  to  attend  the  National 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  which  convened 
at  Washington  City,  as  representatives  of  Georgia’s 
interests.  They  were  received  not  only  with  distin- 
guished courtesy,  but  with  affection  bj^  the  entire  Con- 
vention. There  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  the  first  President  of 
the  Georgia  Union,  and  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes,  the 
first  Corresponding  Secretary,  came  in  vital  touch  with 
the  w^ork  at  large.  Inspired  by  its  beneficent  principles, 
and  Christly  aims,  they  each  returned  more  fixed  in 
purpose  to  press  the  battle  in  Georgia  through  the  Local 
Unions.  As  has  been  showm  in  a previous  chapter,  the 
following  year  reaped  a rich  harvest  in  the  growth  of 
temperance  sentiment,  in  enlarged  membership  of  the 
local  Unions  of  Atlanta,  Augusta,  Rome,  Savannah,  and 
Macon. 


56  History  of  the 

In  October  of  1881  the  National  Convention  came 
South,  holding  its  session  in  Louisville,  Kentucky. 
Because  of  its  close  proximity  and  because  of  Georgia’s 
increased  interest,  the  delegation  was  doubled  in  num- 
ber, being  composed  of  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley  and  Miss 
Lillian  Russell,  of  the  Augusta  Union,  Miss  M.  H.  Stokes 
and  Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter,  of  the  Atlanta  Union.  By  this 
time  Georgia  was  on  the  forward  march  and  felt  the 
need  of  state  organization.  In  answer  to  this  need  Mrs. 
W.  C.  Sibley  was  appointed  Provisional  President  with 
the  power  to  call  a Convention.  Immediately  upon  her 
return  with  the  Crusade  faith,  she  set  to  work  to  so 
adjust  the  machinery,  meager  as  it  was,  to  secure  the 
attendance  of  a large  delegation  from  the  '’arious  local 
Unions,  representative  business  men  and  influential 
ministers  of  all  the  different  denominations.  God’s 
plans,  like  lilies  pure  and  white,  unfolded  in  her  hands 
as  she  followed  His  leadings  step  bj'^  step.  On  January^ 
11th,  1883,  the  body  came  together  and  the  Georgia 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  organized 
in  the  basement  of  the  First  Methodist  Church  in  Atlan- 
ta. A large  delegation  from  the  Unions  of  Savannah, 
Augusta  and  Rome,  fraternal  delegates  from  other  tem- 
perance societies,  and  a number  of  God’s  faithful  min- 
isters, together  with  the  presence  of  Miss  Willard  and 
Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin,  of  South  Carolina,  formed  a group 
that  was  sufficient  to  put  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  alien. 
Their  verj^  looks  were  praj’^ers;  they  had  counted  the 
cost  and  deliberately  settled  the  question  forever;  to  or- 
ganize, to  educate,  and  agitate  against  the  liquor  traffic 
until  Georgia  was  free.  Rev.  Clement  A.  Evans,  Pastor 


RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  WILLIAM  C.  SIBLEY  AT  AUGUSTA,  GA. 

In  Which  Miss  Willard  was  Entertained  in  1883.  Miss  Willard  Occupied  the  Room  on 

the  Second  Floor  at  the  Left. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  57 

of  the  Church  and  Ex-Confederate  General,  conducted 
the  devotional  exercises  and  introduced  the  speakers. 
Addresses  of  welcome  were  made  by  Judge  George 
Lester,  and  Rev.  Henry  McDonald,  of  the  Second  Bap- 
tist Church,  followed  with  responses  by  Miss  Willard, 
Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley  and  Rev.  G.  A.  Nunnally.  Juvenile 
work,  the  only  department  hitherto  inaugurated,  was 
reported  by  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  Mrs.  Richard  Webb,  Mrs. 
E.  C.  Witter,  Mrs.  Mary  Shropshire  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Keyes. 
Wenona  Temple,  ofAtlanta,  was  reported  by  Mrs.  J.  C. 
Thrower,  of  the  Good  Templars. 

The  following  State  officers  were  unanimously 
elected:  President,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  of  Augusta; 
Vice-President-at-Large,  Mrs.  Mary  Shropshire,  of 
Rome;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Miss  Missouri  H. 
Stokes,  of  Atlanta;  Recording  Secretary,  Mrs.  Lawrence 
Lord;  Treasurer,  Mrs.  M.  E.  McCalla;  Librarian,  Mrs.  E. 
C.  Witter;  State  Organizer,  Mrs.  Nannie  Robb;  Super- 
intendent of  Juvenile  Work,  Mrs.  Richard  Webb.  Of 
this  Convention  Miss  Willard  says:  “I  attended  and 
helped  to  organize  the  first  Convention  of  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Georgia,  with  Mrs.  W. 
C.  Sibley  at  the  helm,  and  Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin,  your 
heroic  Southern  leader,  by  waj'^  of  general  inspiration. 
This  was  a great  novelty,  being  so  far  as  I have  learned, 
the  first  State  meeting  held  and  conducted  by  ladies. 
Naturally  enough,  (she  here  refers  to  Southern  oppo- 
sition to  women  speaking  in  public)  the  people  were  a 
little  shy  of  it  at  first,  but  soon  they  attended  in  large 
numbers  and  found  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear  by 
reason  of  short-haired  women  for  there  were  none 


58 


History  of  the 


present,  nor  platform  ranters  for  the  meeting  was  as 
mild  mannered  and  almost  as  mild  voiced  as  if  it  had 
been  held  in  a parlor.  The  ladies  who  had  never 
spoken  in  public  before  were  distinctly  heard  because 
of  their  admirable  enunciation  and  rich  Southern 
voices.  They  stood  there  to  say  what  they  had  to  say 
with  modest  self  composure,  and  most  convincing  argu- 
ments. Their  style  was  conversational,  not  declama- 
tory, and  their  spirit  the  spirit  of  the  home.  I shall 
never  forget  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley  who  had  come  forward 
to  take  the  collection;  she  was  so  bright  and  winsome 
in  manner  and  words.  Among  other  sentences  I 
especially  recall  this  one:  “If  you  will  help  us  dear 
friends,  we  will  he  very  grateful  indeed,  and  we  need 
it,  but  if  no  one  will  help,  so  largety  is  my  heart  enlisted 
for  the  State,  and  for  the  protection  of  our  homes  from 
the  curse  of  the  saloon,  that  I will  stand  and  plead  for 
Georgia  though  I stand  alone.”  Such  a spirit  could  not 
fail  to  win. 

From  this  convention  Miss  Willard  went,  upon  the 
invitation  of  Bishop  Haygood,  the  President  of  Emory 
College,  to  Oxford  and  organized  a Union  with  Mrs. 
Scomp,  wife  of  Professor  Henry  A.  Scomp,  at  that  time 
filling  the  chair  of  Ancient  Languages  in  Emory  College, 
as  President.  She  addressed  a large  audience  includ- 
ing the  faculty  and  student  body  of  Emorj’  College  and 
offered  a prize  through  the  Union  of  ten  dollars  to  the 
student  who  prepared  the  best  essay  on  “The  Relation 
of  the  Individual  to  the  Temperance  Cause.”  This  far- 
seeing  woman  recognized  the  potency  of  institutions  of 
learning  in  the  formation  of  public  opinion.  The 


59 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

offering  of  that  prize,  which  the  Oxford  Union  has  con- 
tinued through  all  of  these  years,  has  proved  to  be  one 
of  the  most  vitalizing  temperance  forces  in  the  State. 
The  research  which  essentially  preceded  the  prepara- 
tion of  these  numerous  essays,  annually  sowed  the  seed 
for  hundreds  of  votes  for  prohibition  in  the  years  fol- 
lowing and  fortified  this  noble  company  of  Georgia’s 
sons  against  the  exceeding  danger  of  tampering  in  the 
least,  with  alcohol  poison.* 

From  Oxford  Miss  Willard  went  to  Macon  and 
reorganized  the  Union,  thence  to  Columbus  where  she 
organized  a large  Union  with  Mrs.  Mann,  wife  of  Dr.  A._ 
T.  Mann,  at  that  time  one  of  the  strongest  preachers  in 
the  South  Georgia  Conference,  as  President.  She  also 
gave  lectures  at  every  point,  wherever  it  was  possible, 
to  the  colored  people,  who  “were  ready  and  respon- 
sive.” 

There  was  a marked  increase,  both  in  Jhe  n^iber  of 
Uliions  and  in  the  activity  of  their  membership  this  first 
year  of  State~TG)rk. ' ^The  mails  at  every  point  carried 
the  best  literature,  with  soul-stirring  letters  from  Mrs. 
Sibley,  the  President,  and  Miss  Stokes,  the  Correspond- 
ing Secretary.  Abundant  in  labors  they  left  no  stone 
unturned,  the  children  were  organized  into  Bands  of 
Hope,  the  colored  people  were  instructed,  special 

*It  was  at  this  time  that  Mrs.  John  S.  Moore  joined  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  and  not  only  became  a local  leader  but  was  for  many  years 
the  State  Treasurer.  When  there  came  times  of  difficulty,  oppo- 
sition and  discouragement  to  the  whole  State  and  especially  to 
the  Oxford  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Mrs.  Moore  stood  firm,  and  persistently, 
bravely,  faithfully  went  forward  in  the  work.  Her  name  can 
truly  be  placed  prominently  in  the  list  of  “Saints  Courageous”  of 
the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. — [Editor.] 


60 


History  of  the 

prayer  services  were  held  for  counties  that  were  about 
to  vote  on  prohibition,  hundreds  of  copies  of  Plans 
and  Principles  of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  were  sent  out  to  the  Christian  women  of 
Georgia,  the  press  of  the  State  was  freely  used  to  adver- 
tise the  object  and  aims  of  the  organization.  State  and 
National  Legislatures  were  petitioned  to  pass  prohibi- 
tory measures.  Unions  were  organized  by  Mrs.  Nannie 
Robb,  the  State  Organizer,  at  Barnesville,  Sunny  Side, 
Martin’s  Chapel,  Lawrenceville,  Gainesville,  Ellijay,  Mt. 
Zion,  Habersham  County  and  Hoschton.  Unions  were 
also  formed  at  Trenton,  Calhoun  and  Hamilton;  the 
last  named  by  Colonel  James  M.  Mobley,  of  that  place. 
Upon  the  resignation  of  Mrs.  Robb,  Miss  Stokes,  the 
Corresponding  Secretary  visited  the  Unions  of  Ringgold, 
Greshamville,  Greensboro,  Columbus,  Hamilton,  Chip- 
ley,  Martin’s  Chapel,  Mt.  Zion  and  Ellijay  and  organized 
Unions  at  Madison,  Longview,  Clarksville  and  Norcross. 
She  also  wrote  four  annual  reports  of  State  work  for 
the  National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
the  North  Georgia  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Church 
South,  and  the  North  Georgia  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  Senator  Blair,  of 
New  Hampshire,  at  his  own  request.  As  an  immediate 
result  of  the  two  first  reports  the  Conference  named 
passed  resolutions  endorsing  the  organization,  and 
pledging  their  support. 

When  it  is  known  that  all  of  this  work  had  been 
accomplished  by  these  noble  women,  with  an  empty 
treasury,  we  will  get  some  small  conception  of  their 
unselfish  devofion  to  the  cause.  Miss  Stokes  states  in 


61 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

her  first  annual  report,  that  from  January  11th  to 
October  8th,  only  $121.88  had  been  paid  into  the  treas- 
ury of  State  work.  How  was  it  done?  From  the  purses 
of  the  faithful  officers,  who  laid  all  upon  the  altar.  By 
their  side  we  see  standing,  in  humble  attitude,  one  of 
Georgia’s  brave  sons,  the  incarnation  of  unselfishness,  a 
type  of  the  highest  and  holiest  patriotism — William  C. 
Sibley,  of  Augusta.  He  not  only  encouraged  his  wife 
to  devote  her  time  and  talents  to  the  redemption  of 
Georgia’s  homes,  but  with  open  purse  laid  bare  his 
means  to  further  the  movement.  He  is  to-day  enshrined 
in  the  heart  of  every  true  mother  within  the  borders  of 
our  fair  State,  who  will  teach  their  children  to  rever- 
ence the  name  of  one  so  consecrated  to  the  loftiest 
philanthropy — the  protection  of  the  fireside. 

During  the  summer  of  1883,  when  the  General  Local 
Option  Bill  again  came  before  the  Legislature,  the 
Unions  throughout  the  State  not  only  watched  its  pro- 
gress with  prayerful  interest,  but  some  of  the  members 
were  in  the  House  of  Bepresentatives  when,  on  August 
7th,  it  came  up  for  passage  and  was  carried.  It  was, 
however,  defeated  in  the  Senate  notwithstanding  the 
untiring  efforts  of  its  ardent  champion,  Hon.  R.  C. 
Pringle,  author  of  the  Bill  and  Chairman  of  the  Tem- 
perance Committee  in  the  House. 

The  second  Annual  Convention  of  the  Woman’s  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union  was  held  in  the  Lecture  Room 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Augusta,  January 
24-25,  1884.  Mrs.  William  C.  Sibley,  President  of  the 
local  Union  and  President  of  the  State  Union,  drew 
lavishly  upon  her  large  powers  and  consecrated  zeal 


62 


History  of  the 

in  preparing  the  way  for  this  to  he  a memorable  occa- 
sion. At  her  invitation  the  attendance  of  many  influen- 
tial ministers  of  different  denominations,  and  noted 
temperance  workers  of  other  states,  together  with  a full 
corps  of  home  workers  was  secured.  Her  elegant  and 
hospitable  home  was  filled  with  delegates  and  its  very 
atmosphere  was  permeated  with  the  spirit  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving  that  the  God  of  Israel  had  thus  far  led 
His  own  people  in  an  organized  crusade  of  education 
against  the  saloon.  Mrs.  Sibley  was  queen  alike  in  the 
home  and  on  the  platform,  instructing  and  inspiring  the 
delegates  at  every  turn.  Brought  up  under  the  old 
regime  when  it  was  counted  unnecessary  for  women  to 
have  knowledge  of  parliamentar}'  law,  she  yet  handled 
the  convention  with  a skill  that  v.ould  have  reflected 
credit  upon  any  parliamentarian.  Her  fairness  in 
ruling,  graciousness  and  gentleness,  together  with  a 
readiness  of  fitting  words  at  eveiw  juncture,  and  above 
all  her  implicit  reliance  upon  God  for  guidance,  united 
to  make  her  one  of  the  most  effective  presiding  officers 
known  to  the  organization.  And  can  any  who  were 
present  forget  the  faithfulness,  earnestness  and  intelli- 
gent aggressiveness  of  our  indefatigable  first  Corres- 
ponding Secretary,  Miss  Missouri  Stokes?  Her  spirit 
seemed  fired  by  a holy  enthusiasm  and  a deathless 
determination  to  rescue  Georgia  from  the  thralldom 
of  the  liquor  traffic.  And  there  stood  the  gentle  Mrs. 
Witter,  her  face  aglow  with  love  and  fervor;  and 
the  saintly  Mrs.  M.  S.  A.  Webb,  in  the  very  lines  of 
whose  countenance  we  could  read  child-like  faith  in 
God  and  a pledge  to  His  service  as  deep  as  her  nature; 


63 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

and  there  was  Mrs.  E.  E.  Harper,  who  had  glorified  the 
prisons  and  jails  of  Atlanta  by  carrying  into  their  dark 
cells  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness;  and  the 
blessed  Mrs.  J.  G.  Keyes,  sounding  a ringing  note  of 
victory  that  was  to  come  to  Georgia  through  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  children  of  the  public  schools  on  the  nature 
and  effects  of  alcohol  upon  the  human  system;  and 
Mrs.  Grigsby  Thomas  of  holy  memory,  pleading  for  the 
Sunday  school  instruction  on  this  same  important  point; 
and  the  brilliant  Miss  Lillian  Russell  who  was  pour- 
ing out  the  gifts  of  youth  upon  this  sacred  altar,  and 
many  others  of  wondrous  strength  and  dauntless 
courage  stand  before  our  mental  vision  charged  with 
the  spirit  of  Tennyson’s  intrepid  army  who  were  ready 
“to  do  and  to  die!” 

The  most  notable  features  of  this  Convention,  Miss 
Stokes  tells  us,  were  the  stress  laid  upon  the  temperance 
instruction  in  the  day  schools  and  Bands  of  Hope, 
(this  organization  corresponds  to  our  present  Loyal 
Temperance  Legion),  and  a pronounced  disapproval 
of  morphine  and  alcohol  as  remedial  agents.  A resolu- 
tion was  adopted  to  petition  the  Legislature  not  to 
send  juvenile  offenders  to  jail  or  prisons.  A strong 
paper  setting  forth  the  reasons  for  scientific  instruction 
being  given  in  the  public  schools,  was  read  by  the 
Superintendent  of  that  Department,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Keyes,  of 
Atlanta.  A comprehensive  and  thrilling  report  was 
given  by  Miss  Stokes  from  Mrs.  E.  E.  Harper,  of  Atlanta, 
embracing  a review  of  her  ministry  in  that  branch  of 
the  work  from  August  19th  to  December  31st,  1883. 


64  History  of  the 

The  Principles,  Plans,  and  Resolutions  adopted  were 
as  follows : 

Principles — We  believe  in  prohibition  by  law  and 
total  abstinence  by  practice,  but  recognizing  the  frailty 
and  weakness  of  human  nature,  we  only  hope  to  accom- 
plish these  by  the  power  of  God’s  sustaining  grace, 
relying  upon  prayer,  study  of  the  Scriptures  and 
earnest  effort. 

Pi  .ANS — 1st.  Preventive — including  heredity,  which 
shows  the  close  relation  of  natal  inheritance  to  the 
terrible  appetite  for  liquor;  h5"giene,  teaching  in  addi- 
tion to,  and  explanatory  of  divine  law,  the  rule  of 
health  as  formulated  bj^  medical  science,  which  incul- 
cates the  great  importance  of  temperate  habits. 

2nd.  Educational — embracing  scientific  instruction, 
temperance  literature,  influencing  the  press,  relative 
statistics,  conference  with  ecclesiastical,  Sunday  school, 
educational  and  other  associations;  juvenile  work, 
including  temperance  schools.  Bands  of  Hope,  training 
and  industrial  schools. 

3rd.  Evangelistic — embodying  prison  and  jail  work, 
work  among  railroad  employees;  securing  the  use  of 
unfermented  wine  at  the  Lord's  table;  securing  days  of 
prayer  and  weeks  of  prayer;  Bible  readings;  and  work 
among  the  colored  people. 

4th.  Social — as  young  woman’s  work,  parlor  meet- 
ings, flower  mission,  and  state  and  county  fairs. 

Resolutions — Whereas,  we  believe  that  the  legalized 
manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  is  an  inex- 
pressible evil,  and  a National  shame;  Resolved,  that 
we,  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Geor- 


MRS.  WILLIAM  C.  SIBLEY,  OF  AUGUSTA. 
First  President  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


65 


gia,  do  earnestly  appeal  to  all  Christians  to  aid  us  in 
our  efforts,  by  legislative  enactment  and  otherwise  to 
banish  the  accursed  thing  from  our  State  and  nation. 

2nd.  That  we  invoke  the  assistance  of  all  temper- 
ance organizations  in  petitioning  our  Legislature  for 
prohibitory  laws,  and  that  we  never  cease  our  efforts 
until  Georgia  is  a prohibition  state. 

3rd.  That  we  petition  the  officers  of  the  state  and 
county  fairs  to  discourage  the  manufacture  of  intox- 
icants, by  offering  no  premiums  for  wines  and  liquors. 

4th.  That  as  intemperance  is  recognized  as  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  and  to 
the  coming  of  the  Lord’s  kingdom,  we  earnestly  entreat 
all  Christian  ministers  to  bring  this  subject  often  to  the 
attention  of  their  congregations  and  invite  their  per- 
sonal influence  in  all  laudable  efforts  to  banish  this 
great  evil  of  intemperance. 

5th.  That  as  early  impressions  are  the  most  lasting, 
and  it  is  easier  and  wiser  to  form  than  to  reform,  we 
ask  the  co-operation  of  all  who  have  the  training  of 
children  to  aid  us  in  teaching  them  the  advantages, 
physical,  mental  and  spiritual  of  temperance;  and  the 
inevitable  moral  and  physical  evils  resulting  from 
intemperate  habits. 

6th.  That  recognizing  the  great  power  of  the  press, 
and  the  essential  importance  of  temperance  papers, 
we  most  heartily  recommend  to  the  members  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  and  to  the  public  at  large,  our  national 
organ.  The  Union  Signal,  published  at  Chicago,  and 
The  People’s  Advocate,  published  in  Atlanta,  Ga. 

(5) 


66 


History  of  the 

These  principles,  plans  and  resolutions  were  drafted 
by  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Harper,  Mrs.  Young  J. 
Allen,  wife  of  Rev.  Young  J.  Allen,  of  the  Southern 
Methodist  Church  and  a missionary  to  China  for  more 
than  fifty  years,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Keyes,  Mrs.  Richard  Webb, 
Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter  and  Mrs.  W.  T.  Wheless. 

During  the  closing  session  of  the  Convention,  Mrs. 
Sallie  F.  Chapin,  Superintendent  of  Southern  work  for 
the  National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
and  one  of  the  most  eloquent  speakers  among  women 
America  has  produced,  came  in  on  her  way  home  from 
an  extended  tour  of  organizing.  As  she  appeared  upon 
the  platform  there  was  a storm  of  applause  and  waiv- 
ing of  handkerchiefs.  Weary  and  dusty  from  travel, 
yet  eager  for  the  fight,  she  presented  the  front  of  a great 
warrior.  With  firml}’  set  mouth,  and  piercing  eyes  her 
arraignment  of  the  liquor  traffic  burned  and  glowed 
with  the  power  of  truth.  In  a perfect  torrent  of  facts, 
she  gave  in  a few  moments  a running  histoiw  of  legis- 
lation proving  the  impossibility  of  regulating  the  traffic. 
At  the  close  of  a grand  climax,  she  exclaimed:  “My 
friends,  you  had  just  as  well  undertake  to  regulate  the 
King  of  Perdition!  The  liquor  traffic,  like  his  satanic 
majesty,  will  not  be  regulated.  The  only  effectual  way 
to  handle  it  is  to  cut  off  its  head  by  legal  prohibition 
and  bury  it  forever.”  As  she  concluded  in  a fier^,’ 
appeal  to  all  temperance  workers  for  renewed  effort, 
pointing  out  that  triumph  would  as  surely  follow  as 
God  reigned,  the  audience  was  deeply  moved,  some 
wept,  others  applauded,  and  all  felt  that  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  that  gi'eat  assembly  was  fully  com- 


67 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

mitted  to  the  cause.  This  was  the  glorious  culmination 
of  the  Second  Convention  of  the  Georgia  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  small  in  numbers  but 
great  in  purpose,  great  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
great  in  absolute  dependence  each  member  felt  upon 
God.  Faith  and  humility,  the  joint  armor  of  victory 
was  written  upon  their  foreheads.  In  the  name  of  the 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  they  had  set  up  their  banners. 

Holy  mothers,  wives  and  daughters! 

Before  you  now  we  stand  uncovered, 

With  all  men  whom  you  have  brothered. 

Glory  and  honor  to  God  above 

Who  crov»fned  you  with  such  wondrous  love! 


CHAPTER  IV. 


SEED  SOWING  THROUGH  DEPARTMENTS — TRAINING  THE 
CHILDREN — PRISON  WORK — WITH  THE  COLORED  PEOPLE — 
THIRD  CONVENTION  IN  COLUMBUS  IN  1885 — MRS.  SALLIE 
F.  Chapin’s  eloquence — work  of  the  w.  c.  t.  u.  in 
COUNTY  ELECTIONS  FROM  1883  TO  1885 — HOW  FULTON 
COUNTY  WENT  DRY. 

Get  the  truth  once  uttered  and  it  is  like 
A star — new-horn  that  drops  into  its  place, 

And  which,  once  circling  in  its  placid  round 
Not  all  the  tumult  of  the  earth  can  shake. 

— Lowell. 

The  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  being  a 
preventive  rather  than  a reformatory  movement,  the 
most  of  its  early  work  was  seed  sowing.  The  clear 
visioned  pioneers  recognized  the  fact  that  if  a great 
harvest  w'as  ever  reaped  the  soil  must  be  thoroughly 
prepared.  They  began  where  it  w'as  most  fertile  and 
promised  the  largest  yield — in  the  minds  of  little 
children.  Even  prior  to  the  state  organization  the  chief 
leaders  operated  this  branch  of  w'ork  in  every  local 
Union.  In  1883  Mrs.  M.  S.  A.  Webb,  of  Savannah,  was 
elected  Superintendent  of  the  Juvenile  Department  and 
prosecuted  it  with  a zeal  unsurpassed.  Earnesth"  and 
eloquently  she  plead  for  the  children’s  enlistment, 
pointing  out  that  their  purity  and  innocence  would 
disarm  prejudice  and  enable  them  to  plant  the  germ 


69 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

of  truth  in  hearts  which  would  reject  it  from  the 
strongest  man  or  the  holiest  woman.  By  letters  and 
personal  appeal  she  secured  the  formation  of  Bands 
of  Hope  wherever  possible  and  the  children  were 
taught  through  Temperance  Manuals  prepared  by  the 
National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  the 
nature  and  effect  of  alcohol  and  other  narcotics  upon 
the  human  system,  from  a scientific  point  of  view. 

These  teachings  were  based  upon  the  highest  medical 
authority  in  Europe  and  America.  Here  was  the 
stronghold  of  this  woman’s  movement.  They  claimed 
nothing  of  themselves,  only  presented  the  proof  which 
came  as  a result  of  thirty  years  research  on  the  part  of 
the  most  eminent  scientists.  For  a time  these  princi- 
ples were  regarded  as  extreme  and  the  representatives 
of  the  organization  were  commonly  termed  “fanatics,” 
but  as  the  light  revealed  the  facts  through  the  various 
departments,  many  began  to  realize  that  the  women 
were  not  mad,  but  only  speaking  “the  words  of  truth 
and  soberness.”  Under  this  misjudgment  and  lack  of 
sympathy  from  the  people  at  large,  the  early  workers 
stood  as  immovable  as  a stone  wall  in  the  face  of  a 
storm.  Conscious  that  the  truth  had  waked  in  all  of 
its  majestic  strength  and  held  the  golden  key  which 
opened  the  palace  of  purity  and  protection  for  Geor- 
gia’s sons  and  daughters,  they  met  opposing  forces  with 
such  commanding  earnestness  that  they  were  left  to 
pursue  their  course  undisturbed  by  some  of  the  severest 
critics. 

Under  these  trying  difficulties  of  the  past  which 
arose,  not  only  from  the  prevalent  thought  that 


70 


History  of  the 


the  organization  was  a progenitor  of  radical  views  on 
the  temperance  question,  but  was  seeking  a sphere  of 
action  outside  of  woman’s  realm,  none  was  more  serene 
in  spirit  and  steadfast  in  devotion  than  the  saintly 
Superintendent  of  the  Juvenile  Department,  Mrs.  M.  S. 
A.  Webb.  When  the  waves  of  opposition  would  sweep 
with  almost  destructive  fury  on  everj'^  hand,  she  would 
say,  “Let  us  teach  the  children  and  when  they  grow 
up,  all  things  will  come  right.”  She  saw  that  the  chil- 
dren were  instructed  concerning  alcoholic  poison,  not 
only  through  the  text  books,  but  through  the  ringing 
notes  of  militant  music,  written  by  Miss  Anna  Adams 
Gordon,  of  Auburndale,  Massachusetts,  at  that  time 
private  seeretary  to  Miss  Willard-  This  gentle  high 
priestess  of  childhood,  in  writing  the  temperance  songs 
for  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  through- 
out the  world,  became  to  this  organization  what  the 
poetic  fire  of  Charles  Wesley  was  to  Methodism.  While 
Illinois  furnished  the  founder  of  the  world’s  united 
Womanhood  who  proclaimed  the  gospel  of  total  absti- 
nence from  the  platform  and  through  the  press,  let  it 
never  be  forgotten  that  Massachusetts  produced  the 
founder  of  the  world’s  united  childhood  which  chanted 
the  melody  of  purity  and  prohibition  from  shore  to 
shore  with  the  sweetness  of  a chorus  fresh  from  the 
bosom  of  God ! We  shall  never  forget  a moving  picture 
of  transcendent  power  at  the  National  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  in  Atlanta  in  1890.  It 
was  an  evening  hour  in  Trinity  Methodist  Church.  A 
platform  had  been  built  which  ran  the  full  width  of  the 
building  and  extended  about  thirty  feet  front.  Miss 


71 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Gordon  sat  at  the  piano  and  played  to  march  measures 
that  song  which  makes  the  liquor  traffic  quake  with 
fear — “Saloons,  Saloons,  Saloons,  Must  Go!”  and 
more  than  three  hundred  children  in  the  national 
colors  came  upon  the  platform  bearing  banners 
upon  which  were  inscribed  such  mottoes  as  “Tremble 
King  Alcohol  for  We  Shall  Grow  Up!”  “The 
Future  is  Ours!”  “The  Right  Will  Conquer!”  and  sang 
with  rapturous  enthusiasm,  clapping  their  hands  and 
waving  their  banners.  Strong  men  wept  amid  a great 
deep  hush,  in  which  all  felt  that  God  was  present  giving 
pledge  that  they  should  be  protected  in  the  j^ears  to 
come  from  the  curse  of  the  liquor  traffic  as  surely  as 
He  sat  in  majesty  upon  His  throne!  This  scene  was 
repeated  upon  a smaller  scale  in  every  city,  town  and 
hamlet  where  Bands  of  Hope  were  formed.  Children 
became  the  messengers  of  the  Most  High  in  countless 
homes  and  led  their  parents  into  the  light  of  truth 
touching  the  danger  of  alcoholic  poison.  Mrs.  S.  J. 
Blanchard,  of  Columbus,  one  of  the  most  gifted  and 
consecrated  workers  for  children  in  the  State,  tells  how 
a little  five  year  old  girl  whose  father  made  a practice 
of  taking  a toddy  before  breakfast  each  morning  and 
giving  it  to  his  children,  after  she  became  a member  of 
the  Band  of  Hope  and  learned  that  alcohol  injured  the 
brain,  told  her  father  that  she  was  unwilling  to  take  it 
any  longer.  At  first  he  laughed  at  her,  but  when  she 
returned  from  the  Temperance  meeting  each  week  with 
a fresh  supply  of  reasons  for  her  fears  and  gave  them 
to  him  with  the  inimitable  earnestness  known  only  to 
a child,  he  at  last  decided  with  her  that  it  was  better 


72  History  of  the 

to  be  on  the  safe  side  and  became  a total  abstainer.  A 
small  boy  of  this  same  Band  of  Hope  in  Columbus  was 
used  of  God  to  close  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
dreaded  saloons  in  the  city.  These  are  only  two  of 
many  instances  which  could  be  given  where  baby  hands 
pointed  the  Way  of  Life  and  with  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  transformed  the  heart  of  stone  into  a heart  of 
flesh. 

Notwithstanding  the  potency  of  the  children’s  move- 
ment, so  vast  were  the  proportions  of  the  drink  evil, 
and  so  multiform  its  victims,  that  it  called  for  every 
possible  agency  to  uproot  it.  It  demanded  a “do  every- 
thing policy,”  as  Miss  Willard  aptly  phrased  it,  that 
would  convert  the  smallest  and  greatest  forces  into 
means  of  its  overthrow,  therefore  the  Departments 
were  instituted  which  touched  at  wellnigh  all  points 
that  led  to  the  main  line — Scientific  Instruction  in  the 
Public  Schools,  and  in  the  Sunday  Schools,  Prison  and 
Jail  Work,  Relative  Statistics,  Unfermented  Wine  at  the 
Sacrament,  Work  among  Colored  People,  Influencing 
the  Press,  Flower  Mission,  Legislation  and  Petition, 
Health  and  Heredity,  State  and  County  Fairs,  Work 
among  Foreign  Population,  Social  Purity,  Work 
among  Railroad  Employees,  and  various  other  depart- 
ments were  adopted  as  means  and  laborers  provided. 

Perhaps  none  of  these  avenues  of  temperance  educa- 
tion sowed  the  seed  for  a great  harvest  more  effectually 
than  that  of  Influencing  the  Press  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  State  President,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley.  Recog- 
nizing the  power  of  prejudice  against  the  temperance 
cause,  she  directed  her  forces  throughout  the  State  to 


73 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

solicit  a column  in  the  daily  and  weekly  papers  to  be 
edited  by  local  superintendents  of  Press  Work.  In 
most  cases  the  space  was  cheerfully  granted,  especially 
in  the  weekly  papers.  This  counted  largely  in  the 
spread  of  temperance  truth  particularly  through  the 
rural  sections  where  the  people  at  that  time  had  but 
little  to  read  outside  of  their  county  paper.  In  many 
instances  they  read  the  temperance  column,  not  that 
they  were  in  sympathy  with  the  temperance  reform,  but 
because  it  was  before  them  and  they  had  nothing  else 
to  read.  The  wise  editors  used  the  finest  common 
sense  in  stating  the  truth-  It  was  put  in  pithy  para- 
graphs, clothed  in  simple  language  and  characterized 
by  a spirit  of  friendly  persuasion  that  was  irresistible. 

Another  Department  of  importance  in  preparing  the 
soil  for  the  reform  was  that  of  Scientific  Temperance 
Instruction  in  Public  Schools.  While  Georgia  at  that 
time  had  no  law  requiring  her  children  taught  the 
nature  and  effect  of  alcohol  upon  the  human  system, 
and  while  the  physiologists  gave  but  meager  reference, 
if  any,  at  this  point,  prior  to  1870;  yet  in  a few  isolated 
cases  the  Union  secured  the  co-operation  of  teachers 
and  the  truths  as  demonstrated  by  science  were  faith- 
fully given.  An  illustration  is  found  in  the  experience 
of  a young  lady  teacher  in  Harris  County  in  1885.  She 
had  joined  the  Union  through  the  deepest  convictions 
of  duty  and  had  pledged  to  sow  beside  all  waters.  Being 
at  the  head  of  a school  of  about  forty  students,  she 
resolved  to  give  a daily  temperance  drill-  The  father 
of  one  of  her  pupils  was  a distiller,  and  when  his  son 
told  him  of  the  truths  he  was  being  taught  touching 


History  of  the 


Ik 

alcohol  as  a poison,  the  father  grew  angry  and  told  his 
son  to  tell  the  teacher  that  he  was  sent  to  school  to  learn 
“readin’,  writin’,  and  ’rithmetic,”  not  to  be  lectured  on 
“temperance,”  that  such  instruction  had  to  cease  or  he 
would  take  his  boy  from  school.  The  wise  teacher  sent 
a kind  note  in  reply  giving  assurance  that  his  son 
would  no  longer  be  required  to  recite  the  temperance 
lesson.  But  the  truth  had  already  taken  root  in  the 
mind  of  his  bright  boy  and  the  father  could  never 
uproot  it.  For  twenty  j^ears  the  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Union  of  Georgia  thus  sowed  seed  in  this 
Department  through  sjmipathetic  teachers.  It  was 
done  as  silently  as  the  falling  snow,  and  yet  was  in  the 
minds  of  the  generation  who  rceived  it,  as  powerful  as 
the  forces  of  nature. 

Another  department  which  struggled  into  existence 
through  manifold  difficulties  was  that  of  Prison  and 
Jail  Work,  under  the  Superintendency  of  Mrs.  E.  E. 
Harper,  of  Atlanta.  Timid  and  reticent  j’et  wholly 
given  to  God  this  heroine  of  the  Cross  became  a minis- 
tering angel  to  minds  darkened  by  sin  and  hands 
stained  with  blood.  In  her  first  report  covering  a little 
more  than  four  months,  a record  is  made  that  is  suffi- 
cient of  itself  to  give  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  a place  among  the  most  beneficent  influen- 
ces. She  distributed  in  prisons  and  convict  camps 
2,622  religious  papers,  357  lesson  books,  54  hymn  books, 
8 Bibles,  3 Testaments,  435  Tracts,  5 Sunday  School 
books,  1,402  bouquets  of  flowers  to  which  Scripture 
Texts  were  attached,  a Thanksgiving  dinner  to  115  pris- 
oners, made  35  visits  to  prisons,  wrote  13  letters,  and 


75 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

gave  26  Gospel  talks-  Under  her  earnest  appeals  at- 
tended with  the  Holy  Spirit,  many  came  to  a knowledge 
of  Christ,  and  when  their  term  of  imprisonment  was 
served  they  were  not  only  free  according  to  the  law 
but  were  free  from  the  bondage  of  sin.  Numerous 
letters  were  received  by  Mrs.  Harper  from  wives  and 
mothers  and  even  children  overflowing  with  praise  and 
thanksgiving  for  the  wonderful  change  that  had  been 
wrought  in  their  loved  ones.  A small  boy  sent  a pic- 
ture of  himself  with  a letter  to  the  “kind  lady  who  made 
papa  a good  man.”  A little  girl  sent  a shell  saying, 
“I  Vv'ant  to  thank  you  for  giving  my  papa  a Bible,  and 
tell  you  he  loves  to  read  it.”  On  Flower  Mission  Day 
when  Mrs.  Harper  carried  hundreds  of  tiny  boquets  tied 
with  the  White  Ribbon,  and  cards  bearing  Scripture 
Texts,  distributing  them  to  the  prisoners,  hearts  were 
melted  that  never  before  seemed  moved.  After  the 
usual  Scripture  lesson,  talk,  song  and  prayer,  many 
came  with  earnest  faces  asking  that  their  texts  be 
explained.  Through  this  medium  the  teaching  of 
God’s  Word  was  lodged  in  the  hearts  of  some  who  had 
never  heard  it  proclaimed.  As  the  searching  light  con- 
tinued to  be  turned  on  by  the  hand  of  love  and  faith, 
darkened  consciences  began  to  see  their  condition  and 
plead  for  pardon.  Depraved  prodigals  “came  to  them- 
selves and  went  back  to  their  father’s  house.”  Mrs. 
Harper  wrote  the  glad  tidings  to  many  wives  and 
mothers  whose  broken  hearts  were  made  to  sing  with 
rapturous  praise-  Through  the  years  which  followed, 
messages  bearing  the  testimony  of  faithfulness  on  the 
part  of  ex-convicts  and  ex-prisoners  came  to  this  saintly 


76 


History  of  the 

laborer,  which  was  an  unspeakable  reward  for  all  she 
suffered  through  the  mis  judgment  and  criticism  at  the 
beginning  of  the  work.  This  service  was  rendered  in 
every  town  and  city  of  the  State  where  Unions  were 
established  by  the  Local  Superintendents  of  Prison  and 
Jail  Work.  God’s  seal  of  approval  was  so  manifestly 
set  upon  this  Holy  Ministry  that  prisoners  were  not  only 
blessed  themselves  but  those  who  bore  the  message 
were  strengthened  and  built  up.  We  have  sat  in  Con- 
vention of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union 
year  after  year  and  witnessed  the  unvarying  power 
which  rested  upon  the  body  as  these  prison  reports 
were  given.  Many  timid  girls  offered  their  first  audi- 
ble prayer  in  the  darkness  of  prison  cells  and  we  do  not 
doubt  that  the  very  angels  and  archangels  of  Heaven 
made  their  flight  to  strengthen  the  heart  that  was  plead- 
ing through  sobs  and  tears  for  a fallen  brother. 

No  less  important  was  the  work  among  colored 
P people  directed  by  this  same  devoted  toiler,  Mrs.  E.  E. 
I Harper.  She  attended  Schools,  Sunday  Schools  and 
X,  Churches  for  the  colored  population  of  Atlanta  from 
j week  to  week,  giving  talks,  distributing  literature  and, 
wherever  possible,  organizing  Unions.  Mrs.  Sallie  F. 
Chapin,  of  South  Carolina,  on  her  frequent  visits  to 
Georgia  as  Superintendent  of  Southern  Work  became 
a tremendous  force  in  this  branch  of  service.  Her 
heart  was  essentially  enlisted,  she  was  a typical  woman 
of  the  old  South,  lived  under  the  ante-bellum  regime, 
witnessed  the  filial  care  of  Christian  masters  for  their 
slaves  and  the  motherly  interest  of  Christian  mistresses. 
She  knew  how  these  faithful  dependents  trusted  their 


77 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


masters  and  leaned  upon  them  as  a child  upon  a parent, 
how,  through  the  long  struggle  of  the  Civil  War,  they 
protected  the  home  while  their  masters  went  out  to 
fight  for  the  principles  of  liberty,  and  after  it  was  over, 
with  its  fearful  havoc  of  manhood,  bitterness,  broken 
hearts  and  buried  dead,  she  saw  these  thousands  of 
slaves  thrust  out  upon  their  own  resources  as  ignorant  of 
self-provision  as  a child  and  as  unfitted  to  cast  a ballot. 
She  saw  how  low  politicians  and  degraded  white  men 
courted  their  favor  with  the  bribe  of  whiskey,  telling 
them  that  they  were  now  free  and  no  man  had  the  right 
to  rob  them  of  their  personal  liberty,  to  drink  and  vote 
for  liquor.  The  fiery  indignation  of  her  great  soul  was 
so  aroused  that  she  went  among  them,  not  only  in 
Georgia,  but  in  every  Southern  State  as  a flaming  evan- 
gel of  truth.  In  their  churches,  school  houses,  in  rail- 
way" stations  and  everywhere  she  could  gather  an 
audience,  by  private  and  public  persuasion  she  plead 
with  them  as  a friend.  With  the  co-operation  of  the 
State  Superintendent,  Mrs-  E.  E.  Harper,  and  such  col- 
ored ministers  as  Rev.  S.  E.  Lathrop,  of  the  Colored 
Congregational  Church,  Macon;  Rev.  D.  Sherril,  of  the 
same  church.  Savannah;  Rev.  J.  M.  White,  of  the  Col- 
ored Baptist  Church,  Augusta;  Rev.  C.  H.  Lyons,  of 
Rome,  and  Rev.  E.  R.  Carter  and  W.  J.  Gaines,  of 
Atlanta,  she  set  in  motion  influences  among  Georgia’s 
colored  citizenship  that  will  never  die.  Colored  Unions 
were  organized  and  systematic  teaching  on  scientific 
temperance  was  given  in  many  of  the  colored  schools. 
Especially  was  this  true  of  Macon  where  the  noted 
temperance  worker  among  his  own  people.  Rev.  Stanley 


78 


History  of  the 

E.  Lathrop,  utilized  every  possible  force  in  the  colored 
churches  and  schools  in  behalf  of  reform.  The  Lewis 
High  School,  of  Macon,  with  which  he  was  connected, 
became  a center  of  light  for  colored  workers.  Spellman 
Institute,  of  Atlanta,  under  the  presidency  of  H.  E.  Giles, 
' also  heartily  co-operated  in  the  teaching  of  scientific 
temperance  through  Bands  of  Hope.  The  children 
were  organized  at  East  and  West  Atlanta  colored 
schools  as  early  as  1885  and  became  the  means  of  many 
colored  mothers  discarding  tobacco  and  whiskej'.  IMi’s. 
Vj2.  G.  Ball,  General  Superintendent  of  these  schools, 
writes  that  snuff  also  was  excluded  in  their  pledge, 
which  shows  the  earnest  effort  to  lift  their  people  above 
r degrading  and  unhealthful  habits.  One  hundred  copies 
i of  the  Temperance  Banner  were  taken  at  that  time  by 
the  Atlanta  colored  Unions,  and  the  Union  Signal,  the 
official  organ  of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  was  also  circulated. 

The  Department  of  Unfermented  Wine  at  the  Sacra- 
ment was  another  pioneer  agency  which  caused  an 
arrest  of  thought  along  temperance  lines.  It  was 
regarded  as  a little  extreme  until  the  facts  were  made 
known  that  some,  through  inherited  appetite  for  strong 
drink,  could  not  commune  without  being  tempted  to 
resort  to  intoxicants  to  allay  their  thirst.  It  was  also 
shown  that  the  children  of  the  Bands  of  Hope  who  were 
pledged  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicants  could  not  par- 
take of  the  Sacrament  when  fermented  wine  was  used 
without  feeling  that  they  had  at  least  approximated  the 
point  of  violating  their  trust.  To  meet  these  conditions 
wellnigh  all  of  the  ministers  consented  to  adopt  the 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  79 

unfermented  wine  at  the  Lord’s  table.  The  faithful 
Superintendent  of  this  department,  in  the  early  years, 
Mrs.  Mary  Shropshire,  of  Rome,  not  only  by  letters  and 
personal  appeal  urged  its  claim,  but  sent  a recipe  for 
preparing  the  pure  juice  of  the  grape  or  unfermented 
wine  to  everj^  local  superintendent  in  the  State  that  the 
churches  might  be  provided  with  a supply. 

From  May  7-8,  1885,  the  Third  Annual  Convention 
of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  held 
in  Columbus,  Georgia,  in  St.  Luke  Methodist  Church. 
Rev.  Walker  Lewis,  pastor  of  the  church  and  the  strong 
friend  of  temperance,  conducted  the  devotional  exer- 
cises of  the  opening  session.  Addresses  of  welcome 
were  delivered  by  the  Rev.  A.  M.  Wynn,  pastor  of  the 
St.  Paul  Methodist  Church,  Colonel  Grigsby  Thomas 
and  Mrs.  W.  J.  McAllister,  President  of  the  local 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union.  Mrs-  William 
C.  Sibley,  the  State  President,  gave  in  her  annual  mes- 
sage thrilling  exhortations  to  renewed  endeavor  and 
recounted  with  praise  the  advanced  steps  which  had 
been  taken  the  past  year.  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes,  the 
Corresponding  Secretary,  gave  a resume  of  the  work 
accomplished  by  each  Union  and  affectionately  urged 
increased  diligence  by  the  Unions  already  formed  and 
the  vital  necessity  for  further  organization.  Nine 
Unions  were  represented  by  delegates  and  eleven 
reported  through  the  Corresponding  Secretary.  State 
Superintendents  gave  encouraging  progress  in  their 
respective  Departments.  Special  emphasis  was  placed 
upon  Physiological  Temperance  Instruction  in  schools, 
and  a committee  appointed  to  memorialize  the  next 


80 


History  of  the 

Legislature  to  enact  a law  requiring  such  teaching  in 
the  public  and  State  schools.  The  local  Band  of  Hope, 
under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  S.  J.  Blanchard,  filled  an 
evening  hour  with  a most  enthusiastic  exercise  of  tem- 
perance drills,  songs,  recitations,  and  talks.  One 
hundred  and  fifty  children  marching  on  the  platform 
and  singing  with  ringing  melody,  “Temperance  Boys 
and  Girls  Are  We,”  formed  a moving  picture  of  thrill- 
ing interest. 

A memorial  service,  tender  and  beautiful,  was  held 
in  commemoration  of  the  faithful  laborers  who  had 
fallen  at  their  post  during  the  year.  Among  the  num- 
ber was  the  strong,  bright  spirit  of  the  Superintendent 
of  Sunday  School  Work,  Mrs.  Grigsby  Thomas,  of 
Columbus,  and  the  apostolic  Mrs.  Man,'  E.  Howes,  of 
Atlanta,  who  for  forty  years  illustrated  the  doctrines  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  one  of  the  most  saintly 
lives  the  world  has  produced.  Mrs-  Wright,  Mrs.  iMer- 
rill,  and  Mrs.  Inglesby,  of  Savannah,  were  also  com- 
memorated at  this  meeting  for  their  faithful  service. 
Early  in  the  Convention  Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin  arrived 
and  was  at  once  voted  a member  of  the  body.  This 
opened  the  waj'  for  her  strong  common  sense  and  deep 
spirituality  to  bear  their  marks  upon  the  proceedings. 
At  an  evening  hour  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
she  delivered  an  address,  which  to  this  day,  is  recalled 
by  those  who  heard  it  with  great  enthusiasm.  Many 
from  the  National  have  wrought  well  and  made  an 
indelible  impression  upon  the  temperance  reform  in 
Georgia,  but  \<e  doubt  if  there  has  come  among  us  a 
larger  personality,  or  a more  invincible  exponent  of 


81 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

the  gospel  of  total  abstinence  than  this  ardent  Huguenot 
of  our  sister  state.  She  would  say  over  and  over  again 
that  Georgia  came  next  in  her  heart  to  South  Carolina, 
and  no  one  who  listened  to  her  soul  impressioned 
appeals  doubted  that  statement.  Under  them  the  hard- 
est hearts  were  melted  and  the  most  prejudiced  minds 
gave  heed. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  State  Union  had 
grown  in  number  and  strength  during  the  year  1884, 
yet  the  Treasurer  reported  only  $138.00  as  having  been 
paid  into  the  Treasury.  It  is  said  that  statistics  make 
a dry  record.  To  our  mind  when  we  review  the  vast 
amount  of  writing  done  by  the  President  and  Corres- 
ponding Secretary,  the  many  hundreds  of  miles  trav- 
eled by  these  and  other  faithful  officers  in  behalf  of  the 
work,  the  printing  of  the  Minutes,  Convention  expenses 
and  various  other  items,  this  $138.00  becomes  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  speakers  of  the  Third  Convention.  It  is 
a great  index  finger  pointing  to  the  source  of  power — 
the  blessing  of  God  upon  unselfish  sacrifice.  These 
women  were  so  moved  by  the  Divine  Spirit  to  organize 
against  the  liquor  traffic  that  poverty,  criticism  nor  any 
other  earthly  force  could  stay  their  efforts.  Like  the 
early  Christians,  who,  when  scattered  abroad  by  perse- 
cutions, only  published  the  glad  tidings  more  rapidly 
and  effectively,  these  holy  wives  and  mothers,  who  had 
looked  upon  the  slain  by  their  firesides  until  the  very 
blood  in  their  veins  cried  out  with  burning  indignation, 
were  only  more  firmly  welded  together  by  opposition 
to  wage  an  eternal  warfare  until  the  lawmakers  gave 
protection.  At  an  early  Convention,  when  the  organi- 


82 


History  of  the 

zation  had  been  roughly  handled  by  some  of  its  critics, 
declaring  that  it  was  teaching  the  women  of  Georgia 
to  be  unwomanly  in  leaving  their  homes  and  appearing 
in  public,  Mrs.  William  H.  Felton,  in  reply,  delivered 
one  of  the  most  scathing  rebukes  which  has  ever  been 
given  the  liquor  traffic.  Her  caustic  burnt  to  the  bone. 
After  reviewing,  in  her  elegant  way,  the  diabolical  work 
of  the  traffic  against  the  home,  she  said : “My  friends, 
do  not  wonder  that  we  heart-broken  wives  and  mothers 
should  in  desperation  be  driven  into  the  public  eye  to 
plead  for  the  protection  of  our  sons  for  whom  we  have 
gone  to  the  very  gates  of  death  to  give  being,  but  hear 
me,  rather  wonder  that  we  do  not  lay  violent  hands 
upon  the  foul  institution  which  is  dailj'  dragging  them 
down  to  hell!”  So  powerful  was  the  effect,  that  the 
audience  went  wild  with  applause  and  requested  that 
the  address  be  repeated  the  following  evening  to  a 
great  mass  meeting. 

At  the  Third  Convention  a State  Constitution  was 
written  and  adopted,  embodying  the  name,  purpose  of 
the  organization,  officers,  dufies  of  officers,  meefing 
and  By-Laws,  by  Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter,  Mrs.  E.  E-  Harper 
and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Feary.  When  the  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee was  read  and  adopted.  Rev.  Walker  Lewis, 
pastor  of  the  St.  Luke  Methodist  Church,  arose  and 
said  that  it  was  as  good  as  any  man,  even  a lawyer; 
could  have  written.  This  deserved  tribute  brings  to 
mind  the  fact  that  in  the  pioneer  days,  when  without 
knowledge  of  parliamentary  law,  totally  devoid  of  ex- 
perience in  writing  anything,  which  involved  legal 
terms,  these  remarkable  women  presided  over  Conven- 


83 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

tions,  formulated  resolutions,  and  adjusted  their 
machinery  with  a skill  and  accuracy  that  not  only  met 
all  requirements,  hut  became  the  wonder  of  observers. 

The  following  officers  were  elected  for  the  ensuing 
year:  President,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  Augusta,  Ga.;  Vice- 
Presidents,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Hill,  Macon,  Ga.,  Mrs.  Marion 
Estes,  Columbus,  Ga.,  Mrs.  Jefferson  Thomas,  Augusta, 
Ga.,  Mrs.  Inez  Gibson,  Longview,  Ga.;  Corresponding 
Secretary,  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes,  Atlanta,  Ga.; 
Recording  Secretary,  Miss  Emmie  Stewart,  Oxford,  Ga.; 
Treasurer,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Feary,  Augusta,  Ga.;  Librarian, 
Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter,  Atlanta,  Ga.;  Superintendents  of 
Departments:  Juvenile  Work,  Mrs.  Richard  Webb, 
Savannah,  Ga.;  Sunday  School  Work,  Mrs.  Jane  E. 
Martin,  Columbus,  Ga. ; Influencing  the  Press,  Mrs.  Belle 
Everlyn,  Chipley,  Ga.;  Hygiene  and  Heredity,  Mrs. 
Sarah  M.  Hicks,  M.  D.,  Atlanta,  Ga. ; Flower  Mission, 
Miss  Lula  Mobley,  Hamilton,  Ga.;  Relative  Statistics, 
Mrs.  George  M.  Dews,  Columbus,  Ga.;  Work  Among 
Foreign  Population,  Mrs.  M.  E.  Kinchley,  Augusta,  Ga. ; 
State  and  County  Fairs,  Mrs.  S.  J.  Blanchard,  Columbus, 
Ga . ; W ork  Among  the  Colored  People.  Mrs.  E.  E.  Har- 
per;  Unfermented  Wine,  Mrs.  Mary  Shropshire,  Rome, 
Ga.;  State  Organizer,  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes,  Atlanta, 
Ga.  It  is  seen  from  this  roster  that  three  Vice-Presi- 
dents, and  four  Superintendents  of  Departments  were 
added,  making  the  official  force  almost  twice  as  strong 
as  the  previous  year.  This  Convention  with  the  various 
branches  of  the  Department  work,  sowed  the  seed  in 
part  for  the  harvest  we  are  reaping  to-day  in  growing 
public  sentiment  against  the  liquor  traffic. 


84 


History  of  the 

* While  preparing  the  soil  and  planting  the  seed  were 
the  primary  work  of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  in  the  first  years  of  its  history,  yet  there  was 
in  many  counties  an  aggressive  activity  in  local  option 
campaigns  which  is  unsurpassed  at  the  present  time 
with  our  increased  facilities  for  work  in  means, 
laborers,  and  sympathy.  From  1881  to  1885,  the  follow- 
ing counties,  either  by  high  license  or  special  legis- 
lative act,  passed  prohibitory  measures;  Bartow, 
Berrien,  Bryan,  Clark,  Campbell,  Catoosa,  Clinch,  Cobb, 
Douglass,  DeKalb,  Dodge,  Elbert,  Echols,  Effingham, 
Emanuel,  Fayette,  Franklin,  Glascock,  Hart,  Hancock, 
Henry,  Jasper,  Jefferson,  Monroe,  Montgomery,  Murray, 
Oglethorpe,  Paulding,  Pike,  Bandolph,  Stewart,  Talia- 
ferro, Telfair,  Taylor,  Troup,  Twiggs,  Warren,  Webster, 
and  Worth.  In  all  of  these  counties  where  local  Unions 
w^ere  established,  the  women,  by  distribution  of  liter- 
ature, securing  the  best  speakers  for  public  mass  meet- 
ings, doing  personal  work  on  election  days,  in  serving 
lunch  near  the  polls,  holding  services  of  prayer  and 
song  during  the  voting  hours,  teaching  the  children  to 
march,  bearing  prohibition  banners,  and  various  other 
means  shared  largely  in  the  victories.  In  the  memor- 
able campaign  of  1885  in  Atlanta,  Hon.  Henry  W.  Hill- 
yer.  Major  James  A.  Anderson  and  other  prohibition 
leaders  appealed  to  the  local  Woman’s  Christian  Tem- 

* Although  the  General  Local  Option  Bill  had  failed  to  pass 
in  the  Legislature,  year  after  year  the  counties  in  which  pro- 
hibition sentiment  was  strong  were  not  without  resource  in 
carrying  out  their  will.  They  “went  dry”  through  special  legisla- 
tive act  calling  an  election,  or  in  some  cases  by  a prohibitive 
high  license  without  any  election  at  all. — [Editor.] 


85 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

perance  Union  for  co-operation  in  arousing  the  Chris- 
tian women  of  the  city  to  a sense  of  their  obligation  to 
aid  in  the  work.  The  Union  responded  enthusiastically 
and  at  once  arranged  for  a great  mass  meeting  on 
Sunday  afternoon  at  DeGive’s  Opera  House  to  be  ad- 
dressed by  Dr.  J.  B.  Hawthorne,  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church.  It  was  estimated  that  three  thousand  people 
were  present  and  at  least  half  that  number  turned  away 
for  lack  of  room.  All  of  Dr.  Hawthorne’s  admirably 
developed  powers  were  brought  to  bear  before  that 
immense  audience  and  his  sweeping  vision  which  saw 
responsibility  resting  upon  every  woman  in  all  its 
gravity,  unfolded  the  truth  in  words  that  blazed  with 
the  fires  of  the  judgment  of  God  if  they  failed  to  assumd 
it.  Hearts  were  stirred  to  their  depths  and  profoundly 
impressed  with  a consciousness  of  duty  to  go  out  and 
fight  the  battle  of  righteousness.  It  is  said  from  that 
hour  the  women  of  Atlanta  began  to  work  with  an 
energy  and  zeal  which  knew  no  abatement  until  the 
great  victory  was  achieved.  Their  husbands,  sons, 
brothers  and  other  male  relatives  were  invoked  with 
an  irresistible  entreaty  to  vote  for  prohibition.  A 
petition  was  circulated,  signed  by  hundreds  of  women 
praying  the  voters  to  register  and  vote  for  the  Home. 
Large  quantities  of  the  best  campaign  literature  were 
distributed  by  the  ladies  themselves,  placing  it  under 
the  front  doors  of  private  residences,  and  then  ringing  ^ 
the  door-bell  to  insure  its  being  received.  For  three 
weeks  and  three  days  prior  to  the  election,  the  ladies  j 

held  daily  Union  prayer  service  at  Trinity  Methodist  ' 

Church  and  the  First  Baptist  Church.  Mrs.  M.  L.  Gates, 


86 


History  of  the 

of  the  Juvenile  Work,  drilled  the  boys,  white  and  col- 
ored, to  sing  temperance  songs;  Mrs.  E.  E.  Harper,  of 
the  Colored  Work,  secured  the  aid  of  Mrs.  Sallie  F. 
Chapin,  of  South  Carolina,  and  held  meetings  among 
the  colored  people  at  Allen  Temple,  the  Colored  Con- 
gregational Church,  Clark  University  and  Big  Bethel, 
with  powerful  results.  Mrs.  Stainback  Wilson  and 
other  ladies  made  an  elegant  blue  satin  banner  on 
which  was  painted  a pure  white  dove,  bearing  an  olive 
branch  in  its  beak,  under  which  was  written,  “Peace 
on  Earth,  Good  Will  to  Men.”  Upon  the  reverse  of 
^white  satin  was  painted  in  exquisitely  shaded  letters  the 

) inspiring  motto  of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  “For  God  and  Home  and  Native  Land.”  This 
banner  was  to  be  given  to  the  colored  prohibition  club 
which  polled  the  largest  vote.  As  a result  of  Mrs. 
Harper’s  and  Mrs.  Chapin’s  work  among  the  colored 
people,  a number  of  colored  women  came  out  on  elec- 
I tion  day  and  liberally  aided  with  contributions  and 
service  at  the  lunch  tables.  The  students  of  Clark 
University  sent  thirty  gallons  of  milk  and  other  colored 
people  rendered  substantial  assistance  in  providing  for 
the  dinner  that  was  to  be  served  to  prohibition  voters. 

Over  the  lunch  window  in  South  Atlanta,  near  the  polls 
was  placed  in  large  letters  the  text,  “0  woman,  great 
is  thy  faith,  be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt!”  In 
North  Atlanta,  near  the  Court  House,  over  the  windows 
of  another  lunch  room  were  suspended  “battle  flags,” 
sent  by  the  Union  of  Spartanburg,  South  Carolina,  upon 
which  were  printed  the  stirring  mottoes,  “Save  the 
Boys!”  and  “Am  I My  Brother’s  Keeper?”  On  Novem- 


87 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

ber  26th,  when  the  blessed  news  had  been  received  that 
Fulton  County  had  gone  for  prohibition  by  228  major- 
ity, the  ladies  of  the  city,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs. 
E.  C.  Witter,  President  of  the  local  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  held  a thanksgiving  service  in  th& 
parlors  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association.  Mrs. 
Witter  read  Miriam’s  song  of  victory,  after  her  people 
had  passed  over  the  Red  Sea,  and  with  voices  broken 
by  tremors  of  praise,  that  great  company  of  women 
stood  in  the  presence  of  God  and  sang  the  Doxology 
from  the  deepest  depths  of  their  hearts!  Telegrams 
of  congratulation  were  read  from  the  Woman’s  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Unions  of  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  and 
Mobile,  Alabama,  from  Ex-Mayor  William  B.  Mason, 
and  Colonel  John  Detreich,  of  Plainfield,  New  Jersey. 
Letters  of  rejoicing  had  been  received  from  Miss  Wil- 
lard, Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  the  State  President,  Professor 
Henry  Scomp,  teacher  of  Ancient  Languages  in 
Emory  College,  and  his  excellent  wife,  who  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  local  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  of  Oxford,  Georgia. 

In  that  holy  hour  when  all  hearts  were  too 
full  for  utterance,  save  through  tears  and_sobs, 
the  gentle  Mrs.  Har^r  stoo^  up  to  speak  for  the 
colored  p^ple.  “Dear  friends,”  sSTd  she,  “all  day  of 
the  election  I spent  in  prayer  with  the  colored  women 
at  their  churches.  God  was  with  us ; I never  heard  any 
get  closer  to  the  throne  than  some  of  those  colored 
mothers.  There  was  a power  and  a pathos  about  their 
pleading  that  was  heart-breaking,  and  I want  to  say  that 
God  gave  them  the  victory  as  surely  as  he  has  given  it 


88 


History  of  the 

to  us!”  The  victory  could  not  have  heen  won  hut 
for  the  loyalty  of  the  best  colored  people  led  by  such 
earnest  pastors,  among  them  Rev.  W.  J.  Gaines  and 
E.  R.  Carter.  At  a critical  moment  in  the  campaign, 
when  fear  of  defeat  was  felt  by  many  of  the  strongest 
prohibitionists,  these  faithful  colored  people  rallied  to 
the  front  with  a courage  that  illuminates  the  history 
of  that  notable  struggle.  Dr.  William  H.  Felton  had 
been  secured  to  address  a large  mass  meeting  at  “Sam 
Jones  Tent”  in  order  to  fire  the  forces  afresh  for  re- 
doubled activity  a few  days  prior  to  the  election.  As 
he  was  speaking  before  a great  audience  that  filled  the 
tent  almost  to  its  utmost  capacity,  a band  of  music  was 
heard  in  a distance  attended  with  shouts  and  cheers; 
some  thought  it  the  anti-prohibitionists  making  a final 
onslaught  to  break  up  the  meeting,  but  in  a moment  as 
it  drew  nearer,  a colored  man  came  upon  the  stage  and 
handed  over  to  Mayor  Hillyer  a note,  asking  if  the 
colored  people  might  be  allowed  to  hear  Dr.  Felton. 
The  note  was  read  to  the  crowd  and  permission  granted 
amid  the  wildest  enthusiasm.  Their  leaders  were  X 
invited  on  the  platform  and  the  remaining  six  hundred 
were  given  seats  which  densely  packed  the  already 
crowded  tent.  The  historian  of  the  campaign  tells 
us  that  the  cheering  at  this  juncture  was  so  loud  and 
continuous  that  it  was  thirty  minutes  before  Dr.  Felton 
could  go  on  with  his  address.  Men  threw  their  hats 
into  the  air,  women  waived  their  handkerchiefs  and 
all  seemed  lost  in  a wild  sea  of  tumultuous  excitement. 
The  noise  was  so  great  that  many  people  left  their 
homes  to  find  the  cause,  some  as  far  as  a quarter  of  a 


MRS.  JOHN  S.  MOORE.  MRS.  M.  S.  A.  WEBB. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


89 


mile  distant.  Dr.  Felton’s  speech,  it  is  said,  was  a per- 
fect torrent  of  tremendous  fervor  for  God’s  cause.  The 
“Grand  Old  Man”  who  had  been  the  hero  of  many  bat- 
tles for  his  beloved  state  never  fought  with  sharper  or 
surer  lance  than  on  this  memorable  occasion.  Under 
the  powerful  inspiration  of  that  magnificent  assembly 
of  Atlanta’s  best  citizenship,  among  the  white  and 
colored,  aided  mightily  by  the  God  of  Battles,  he  arose 
to  heights  of  truest  eloquence,  nerving  the  arm  of  every 
one  to  go  out  and  quit  themselves  like  men ! From  that 
moment  the  victory  was  assured  and  not  only  Georgia, 
but  the  nation  looked  with  wondering  joy  upon  the 
march  of  triumph. 


CHAPTER  V. 


PASSAGE  OF  THE  GENERAL  LOCAL  OPTION  BILL  JULY  28tH, 
1885^ — COUNTY  VICTORIES — SCIENTIFIC  TEMPER.ANCE  IN- 
STRUCTION BILL  DEFEATED — FOURTH  CONVENTION  IN  MAY, 
1886,  AT  MACON  A GREAT  SUCCESS — SECOND  ATTEMPT  TO 
PASS  SCIENTIFIC  TEMPERANCE  INSTRUCTION  LAW  DEFEATED 
■ — 1887  CONVENTION  HELD  IN  MASONIC  TEMPLE,  SAVANNAH 
— AFTER  TWO  YEARS  PROHIBITION  ATLANTA  WENT  WET 

HENRY  Grady’s  great  speeches. 


Neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything,  neither  is  he 
that  watereth;  hut  God  that  giveth  the  increase. 

I Cor.  3:7. 


This  period  is  memorable  in  the  history  of  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Georgia,  not 
only  for  growing  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  the 
reform,  but  signal  victories.  Prejudice  against  the 
organization  was  yielding  to  some  extent;  its  service  in 
local  option  campaigns  and  petition  work  was  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  most  effective  agencies  for  the 
advancement  of  the  temperance  cause.  Of  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty-one  counties  which  had  thrown  off 
the  yoke  of  the  liquor  traffic,  sixty-two  of  that  number 
had  passed  their  prohibitory  measures  since  the  organ- 
ization instituted  systematic  teaching  in  scientific  tem- 
perance. 

In  1885  the  General  Local  Option  Bill  which  provided 
that  the  people  in  each  county  should  be  granted  the 


91 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

right  to  vote  upon  prohibition  and  that  the  question 
should  be  left  optional  with  them  touching  the  sale  of 
liquor  in  their  respective  counties,  was  again  to  come 
up  for  passage  in  the  Legislature.  The  previous  year, 
1884,  when  the  bill  met  defeat,  the  Union  measured 
swords  with  the  enemy,  and  instead  of  stacking  arms, 
went  out  for  recruits  to  make  a fiercer  charge.  For 
months  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly, 
prayers  were  offered  in  every  local  Union  for  the  author 
and  friends  of  the  bill.  Notices  were  inserted  in  the 
leading  dailies  requesting  all  ministers  of  the  gospel 
and  every  Christian  in  the  State  to  unite  in  prayer  that 
the  right  might  prevail;  also  that  the  plans  of  the  State 
Liquor  Dealers  Protective  Association,  which  was  in 
session,  might  be  thwarted.  Senators  and  Legislators 
were  besieged  with  letters,  telegrams  and  personal 
appeals  to  vote  and  work  for  its  passage.  When  the 
day  dawned,  July  13th,  which  had  been  fixed  for  its 
consideration,  these  wives,  mothers  and  daughters, 
gathered  at  the  Capitol  and  sat  in  crowded  galleries 
from  9:00  A.  M.  to  1:00  P.  M.,  with  the  thermometer 
in  the  nineties.  When,  in  spite  of  the  lengthy  filibuster- 
ing, the  bill  passed  by  a vote  of  111  to  22,  they  followed 
it  to  the  Senate  and  listened  to  the  debate  through  long 
hours  for  nine  consecutive  days.  On  the  28th  day  of 
July,  their  prayers  and  patient  endurance  were  re- 
warded with  victory,  the  vote  for  the  bill  being  31  to  7. 

On  the  22nd  of  the  same  month,  eight  ladies  from  the 
Atlanta  Union,  Mrs.  Jonathan  Norcross,  Mrs.  E.  G. 
Witter,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Keyes,  Dr.  Sarah  M.  Hicks,  Mrs.  E.  E. 
Harper,  Mrs.  J.  D.  Dougherty,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Bryant,  and 


92  History  of  the 

Miss  M.  H.  Stokes  went  before  the  Joint  Educational 
Committee  of  the  Senate  and  House  and  presented  the 
memorial  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  asking  for  the  enactment 
of  a law  requiring  in  all  schools  under  the  State  control 
and  support,  the  study  of  Physiology  and  Hygiene  with 
special  reference  to  the  effects  of  alcohol  and  other 
narcotics  upon  the  human  system.  The  petition  was 
reinforced  by  a similar  one  from  the  State  Temper- 
ance Association  and  the  Good  Templars.  Hon.  W.  J. 
Northen,  afterwards  Governor  of  Georgia,  from  Han- 
cock County,  drew  up  an  admirable  bill  and  earnestly 
plead  for  its  passage  but  it  met  defeat  by  a vote  of  21 
to  14.  Its  opponents  declared  that  it  was  unconstitu- 
tional, that  the  most  of  the  teachers  in  the  common 
schools  were  unable  to  teach  Physiology",  that  the  pur- 
chase of  necessary  text  books,  would  entail  upon  the 
parents  of  the  pupils  additional  expense,  and  that  it 
was  not  a primary  duty. 

This  defeat  only  aroused  the  Union  to  greater  zeal, 
knowing  that  Georgia’s  law-making  body  could  do  what 
had  been  done  in  wellnigh  every  state  in  the  Union. 
They  knew  that  the  so-called  “Unconstitutional”  and 
other  lame  excuses  were  rendered  because  the  people 
of  Georgia  had  not  spoken  loud  enough  to  demand  a 
hearing.  The  Corresponding  Secretary  therefore  sent 
out  a petition  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  State  to 
every  Union  and  in  places  where  there  were  no  Unions, 
asking  that  such  a law  be  enacted.  This  petition  met 
with  the  highest  favor  and  was  returned  not  only  with 
a large  number  of  signatures,  but  letters  of  earnest 
endorsement.  Among  the  number  who  approved  and 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


93 


gave  their  signatures,  were  eminent  educators,  lawyers, 
physicians,  and  a host  of  leading  farmers  and  business 
men.  The  faculties  of  Emory  College,  Mercer  Univer- 
sity, Wesleyan  Female  College,  Middle  Georgia  and 
West  Georgia  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Colleges 
and  Shorter  College,  together  with  the  Boards  of  Educa- 
tion in  Rome  and  Augusta,  signed  in  their  official 
capacity.  This  gave  the  Union  to  know  absolutely, 
what  they  had  already  supposed,  namely:  that  the 
Legislators  were  not  representing  the  people  of  the 
State  in  refusing  to  enact  this  measure,  but  were  pan- 
dering to  the  liquor  traffic,  hence  they  resolved  to 
petition  until  the  law  was  passed. 

The  following  September  and  October,  the  State 
Organizer,  Miss  M.  H.  Stokes,  made  a tour,  of  which 
she  quaintly  says:  “I  started  out  armed  with  faith, 
enthusiasm,  $10.00  from  a Methodist  minister  of  the 
South  Georgia  Conference,  and  a trip  pass  over  the 
Marietta  and  North  Georgia  Railroad.”  She  repre- 
sented the  cause  of  the  Union  at  Ellijay,  Canton,  Jasper, 
Flowery  Branch,  Longview,  Clarkesville  and  Gainesville.' 
The  latter  part  of  October,  she,  with  Mrs.  W.  C.  Siblej"^ 
and  Mrs.  M.  A.  Houston,  represented  Georgia  at  the 
National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  which 
convened  in  Philadelphia.  They  returned  overflowing 
with  enthusiasm  and  by  prayer  and  ceaseless  labor 
became  potent  factors  in  the  local  option  campaign 
which  was  at  white  heat  in  Fulton  County.  The  glori- 
ous result  of  signal  victory  which  came  to  the  forces 
of  righteousness  has  been  pointed  out  at  length  in  the 
foregoing  chapter.  Inspired  by  the  moral  grandeur 


9k 


History  of  the 

a vast  significance  of  triumph  in  Georgia’s  capital,  the 
faithful  officers  began  to  plan  for  yet  greater  achieve- 
ments through  the  Fourth  Annual  Convention,  which 
convened  in  Mulberry  Street  Methodist  Church,  Macon, 
May  21-23,  1886.  This  convention  is  a historic  mile- 
stone, marking  the  time  and  place  when  God  appeared 
in  wonderful  power. 

An  earnest  spirit  of  supplication  and  thanksgiving 
from  the  very  first  service  pervaded  the  body.  The 
victories  of  the  past  year  in  the  counties  of  Bartow, 
Clark,  DeKalb,  Dodge,  Elbert,  Fulton,  Faj^ette,  Ogle- 
thorpe, Screven,  Stewart,  Taliaferro,  Taylor,  Troup, 
and  Warren,  brought  the  State  Union  to  realize  more 
keenly  than  ever  their  source  of  strength.  They  had 
stood  still  and  seen  “the  salvation  of  the  Lord;”  that 
it  was  not  by  armies  nor  by  power,  but  by  His  spirit 
that  the  Hosts  of  sin  had  been  slain  in  battle.  They  had 
come  up  to  the  annual  feast  to  recount  the  mercies  of 
Jehovah  and  renew  their  pledge  of  fealty  to  Him  and 
humanity.  As  the  Convention  opened,  battles  were 
being  waged  in  the  counties  of  Newton,  Washington 
and  Morgan;  fervent  prayers  were  offered  in  their 
behalf  and  while  “they  j^et  spake”  the  wires  flashed 
the  glorious  news  that  Newton  and  Washington  had 
been  redeemed  from  the  curse  of  liquor.  Mrs.  Chapin 
read  the  117th  Psalm  and  “Psalms  of  Victory”  was  sung 
amid  a deep,  holy  hush  of  gratitude  to  God.  The  Pres- 
ident’s address  glowing  with  the  fervor  of  faith  and 
jubilant  with  the  notes  of  conquest  so  stirred  the  body 
as  to  call  for  its  second  reading  at  an  evening  hour 
when  the  masses  of  the  people  would  be  present  to 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  95 

hear  it.  Honorable  Walter  B,  Hill,  afterward  Chan- 
cellor of  the  University  of  Georgia,  and  one  of  her 
ablest  sons  in  law  and  state  craft,  delivered  an  eloquent 
address  in  which  he  dwelt  upon  the  power  of  woman  in 
moral  reform;  with  cogent  reasoning  he  proved  her 
prerogative  to  work  for  the  j)rotection  of  her  home. 
Dr.  Weynian  H.  Potter,  Editor  of  the  Wesleyan  Chris- 
tian Advocate,  and  one  of  the  most  eminent  divines 
Georgia  Methodism  has  produced,  spoke  also  in  the 
highest  commendation  of  the  organization.  Referring 
to  some  of  its  critics,  he  said : “Move  steadily  forward, 
take  no  heed  of  any  one  who  would  hinder;  you  are 
engaged  in  God’s  work  and  I pray  that  you  may  go  on 
undeflected  from  your  course.”  This  clear-brained, 
ecclesiastical  statesman,  not  only  at  the  Convention,  hut 
ever  after,  by  pen  and  voice,  plead  with  the  women  at 
large  to  enter  this  field  of  unlimited  usefulness  and 
when  the  sword  of  criticism  was  drawn  against  the 
Union  and  other  branches  of  woman’s  work,  he  drew 
one  in  their  defense  with  sharper  edge  which  cut  to 
the  vitals.  He  did  perhaps  more  than  any  other  man  of 
his  generation  in  the  State  of  Georgia  to  open  the  way 
for  woman’s  larger  activities  and  beat  back  the  forces 
that  would  bind  her  in  servitude  to  the  preconceived 
notions  of  ignorance  and  prejudice. 

Rev.  A.  M.  Wynn,  of  the  South  Georgia  Conference, 
Rev.  W.  F.  Cook,  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference,  and 
the  venerable  Rev.  James  E.  Evans,  each  were  in  attend- 
ance, and  by  prayer,  counsel  and  kindly  commendation 
became  a blessing  throughout  the  session.  Among  the 
important  enactments  of  the  body  was  the  adoption  of 


96 


History  of  the 

a resolution  asking  that  each  local  Union  memorialize 
the  next  Legislature  to  pass  a law  providing  separate 
places  for  women  and  juvenile  offenders  from  the  hard- 
ened criminals.  This  resolution  was  called  out  by  a 
strong  paper  from  Mrs.  William  H.  Felton  on  “Prison 
Reform.”  It  was  resolved  also  to  again  memorialize 
the  Legislature  for  a Physiological  Instruction  Law. 
The  reports  of  Superintendents  of  Departments  were  of 
a high  order  and  showed  greater  progress  than  in  any 
previous  year.  The  Department  of  Social  Purity  was 
adopted  and  Mrs.  J.  E.  Brj^ant,  of  Atlanta,  made  Super- 
intendent. The  treasury  had  an  increase  of  $57.00 
over  the  past  year.  The  Convention  as  a whole  made 
a profound  impression  in  favor  of  woman’s  work  by 
reason  of  the  executive  ability  of  the  officers,  the  power 
and  facility  of  utterance  on  the  part  of  the  speakers,  the 
order  and  decorum  in  the  deliberations,  the  wisdom 
and  tact  in  presenting  an  unpopular  cause,  but  above 
all  the  unity  of  spirit  and  the  bond  of  love. 

On  November  26th,  of  this  year,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley, 
Miss  Emmie  Stewart,  and  Miss  M.  H.  Stokes,  again  pre- 
sented the  memorial  for  a Physiological  Instruction  law 
to  the  Joint  Educational  Committee  of  the  House  and 
Senate.  Honorable  R.  C.  Pringle  framed  the  bill  and 
introduced  it  in  the  Senate  where  it  was  defeated  by  a 
tie  of  twenty  to  twenty,  but  was  afterwards  recon- 
sidered and  passed  by  a substitute  which  only  pro- 
vided that  Physiolog}'  be  added  to  the  list  of  studies 
already  required  in  the  public  schools. 

The  early  history  of  the  Georgia  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Union  furnishes  a striking  illustration  of 


MRS.  MARY  L.  McLENDON. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


97 


the  lesson  taught  on  trials  and  triumphs  through  the 
experience  of  Christ — one  day  the  multitude  spreading 
His  path  with  palms  and  shouting  His  praise,  the  next 
nailing  Him  to  the  cross. 

The  Macon  Convention  was  the  day  of  palms,  when 
the  strongest  Methodist  Church  at  that  time  in  the 
South  Georgia  Conference  royally  welcomed  the  body 
through  its  honored  and  beloved  pastor,  Rev,  J.  0.  A. 
Cook,  who  not  only  opened  his  church  for  sessions,  but 
attended  throughout  and  aided  in  every  possible  way. 
Distinguished  ministers  and  laymen  from  many  parts 
c"  the  State,  by  their  presence,  words,  letters  and  tele- 
grams, co-operated  heartily.  A great  impetus  whr  given 
the  cause;  even  among  the  colored  people,  who,  under 
file  leadership  of  their  pastor,  Hev.  StaiYhey~Xathrop, 
res^pdnded  enthusiasTicafly  to  Mrs.  Chapin  in  her  ardent 
and  eloquent  appeal  for  their  sup^rt  fn  lighting  the 
liquor  Jraffic.  So  manifest  was  the  approval  of  the 
great  crowds  which  attended  the  sessions  that  a casual 
onlooker  would  have  judged  that  all  the  trials  were 
over  and  opposition  had  ceased.  But  the  women  them- 
selves, who,  like  the  apostles,  had  been  taken  into  the 
confidence  of  Christ,  knew  that  truth  must  travel  a 
rugged  path,  that  only  a cross  and  a crown  of  thorns 
awaited  those  who  stood  for  righteousness;  therefore 
they  were  not  surprised  when  at  the  next  Convention, 
held  in  Savannah,  May  10-13,  1887,  the  door  of  every 
Christian  church  was  closed  against  them  and  they 
were  forced  to  rent  the  Masonic  Temple  in  which  to 
hold  their  meeting.  The  Mayor  of  the  City  was  invited 
by  the  local  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  welcome  the  body  in  behalf 

(T) 


98 


History  of  the 


of  the  citizens,  but  he  happened  (?)  to  be  out  of  town. 
Not  only  were  the  chilling  winds  of  indifference  and 
criticism  turned  upon  them  in  Savannah — which  from 
the  days  of  Oglethorpe  to  the  present  time  burdened  the 
noblest  men  and  women  of  Georgia  with  disloyalty  to 
temperance — but  they  felt  its  force  from  other  sections 
of  the  State  as  well.  It  was  said  that  they  had  over- 
stepped the  bounds  of  woman’s  sphere,  had  gone  into 
politics.  This  they  answered  by  saying  they  were  only 
going  after  a government  which  was  wrecking  their 
homes  and  killing  their  husbands,  sons  and  fathers; 
that  they  had  waited  amid  unutterable  suffering  and 
anguish  for  more  than  a hundred  years  for  the  men  to 
profecTthem  and  no  protection  came,  therefore,  against 
their  wish,  they  had  been  forced  into  the  arena  of  public 
life.  These  answers  by  pen,  were  made  with  marvelous 
patience  in  the  utmost  kindness.  Not  a word  of  harsh- 
ness is  to  be  found  in  the  record.  Human  history  af- 
fords no  finer  demonstration  of  Christ’s  teachings  touch- 
ing forgiveness,  than  pervades  the  work  of  Georgia’s 
temperance  women.  Ridiculed  by  the  liquor  men,  op- 
posed by  many  in  the  Church  of  God,  even  some  of  His 
ordained  ministers  claiming  the  right  to  close  the  doors 
of  the  Church  they  helped  to  found  against  them, 
yet  standing  on  the  outside  in  a hired  house  like  St. 
Paul  when  buffeted  and  cast  out,  thej’  calmly  and  deter- 
minately  fought  the  foe  with  sharp  weapons  of  truth 
with  such  commanding  generalship,  that  critics  were 
put  to  shame.  At  this  Convention  the  trend  of  opinion 
in  regard  to  the  organization  entertained  by  its  oppon- 
ents is  brought  out  in  the  following  resolution: 


99 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

“Resolved:  That  the  thanks  of  the  Woman’s  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union  are  due  and  heartily  tendered 
Rev.  Dr.  Weyman  H.  Potter,  Editor  of  the  Wesleyan 
Christian  Advocate  for  his  gallant  defense  of  our  organ- 
ization and  some  of  our  most  beloved  and  prominent 
officers.  We  are  glad  that  this  chivalric,  gentlemanly 
defense  came  from  Georgia,  and  we  desire  to  express 
our  appreciation  of  the  bold,  brave  words,  made  the 
more  valuable  because  coming  from  an  editor  who  has 
no  superior  in  this  State  or  any  other  state,  for  worth, 
intelligence  and  piety.” 

Under  these  conditions,  in  the  President’s  address,  the 
Corresponding  Secretary’s  Report,  and  through  the 
various  departments  represented  by  fifteen  Superin- 
tendents, there  is  not  a discouraging  note  sounded. 
Full  and  glowing  accounts  were  given  of  victories  but 
little  was  said  of  difficulties.  Distinguished  helpers  in 
Mrs.  Chapin,  of  South  Carolina,  Mrs.  Weils,  of  Tennes- 
see, and  Honorable  R.  C.  Pringle,  of  Savannah,  Georgia, 
came  to  their  aid  and  spoke  of  having  authority  upon 
the  great  principles  of  civic  righteousness.  Colonel 
Pringle’s  address  to  a packed  house  on  “County  and 
State  Prohibition”  was  cheered  to  the  echo.  The 
invincible  arguments  of  Mrs.  Chapin  and  Mrs.  Wells 
given  with  the  superb  grace  of  Southern  womanhood; 
brought  Savannah  to  see  that  there  was  nothing  to  fear 
in  allowing  women  to  make  their  own  plea  for  home 
protection.  The  Convention  resolved  strongly  against 
high  license,  which  at  that  time  came  into  popular  favor 
as  a compromise  with  the  liquor  traffic.  The  body  took 
the  ground  that  if  the  sale  of  liquor  was  deleterious  to 


100 


History  of  the 

the  State,  no  amount  of  license  would  make  it  right. 
County  victories  had  heen  achieved  during  the  year  in 
Dodge,  Harris,  Greene,  Pulaski  and  Baldwin,  in  each  of 
which  the  local  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union 
rendered  invaluable  aid.  This  fact  was  set  forth  with 
such  enthusiasm  by  Colonel  Pringle,  that  after  his 
tribute  Mrs.  Chapin  said,  as  Superintendent  of 
Southern  Work,  she  was  indeed  proud  of  the  women  of 
Georgia  who  had  accomplished  such  results. 

There  were  no  marked  changes  in  the  Plans,  Prin- 
ciples and  Resolutions,  and  the  officers  who  were  re- 
elected went  out  to  face  the  future  with  as  heroic 
spirits  as  pervaded  the  army  of  Cromwell  when  they 
marched  upon  the  enemy  singing  psalms  of  praise. 
Well  that  they  were  at  this  Convention  baptized  with 
the  spirit  of  unfaltering  purpose  and  dauntless  courage 
for  just  ahead  of  them  was  rising  a dark  cloud  of  sore 
defeat  in  the  Capitol  City  of  Georgia,  made  memor- 
able by  the  immiortal  speeches  of  that  peerless  son  of 
the  South — Henry  Woodfin  Grady.*  With  the  most 
painstaking  care  he  gathered  irrefutable  evidence  of 
Atlanta’s  unparalleled  prosperity  under  prohibition  and 
presented  them  before  8,000  people  in  two  of  the 
greatest  efforts  of  his  life.  When  he  fell  asleep  in  a 
golden  prime  of  almost  matchless  abilities,  his  name 
was  set  like  some  rare  gem  of  purest  radiance  in  the 

'From  the  time  that  Fulton  County  went  dry  in  November, 
1885,  the  liquor  interests  concentrated  their  efforts  in  Atlanta 
to  bring  it  back  into  the  wet  column.  They  called  an  election 
and  notwithstanding  the  hard  work  of  the  temperance  men  and 
women,  led  by  the  eloquent  Henry  Grady,  they  secured  a major- 
ity and  Fulton  County  went  wet  again  in  1887. — [Editor.] 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  101 

midst  of  circling  virtues,  reflecting  light  upon  his  fer- 
vent patriotism,  his  broad  catholicity  in  work  for  unity 
between  the  North  and  South,  his  consuming  zeal  for 
the  material  development  of  his  own  and  other  South- 
ern states,  yet  these  with  all  their  splendor  pale  into 
insignificance  as  compared  with  his  thrilling  appeal 
for  the  protection  of  Atlanta’s  homes  against  the  liquor 
traffic.  It  was  warm  with  his  heart’s  best  blood,  sub- 
lime in  its  authoritative  claim  upon  the  city’s  manhood 
to  defend  and  protect  her  helpless  women  and  little 
children,  beautiful  and  powerful  in  patience  toward  the 
enemy.  There  are  portions  of  it  that  should  be  cut 
upon  a marble  tablet  and  placed  in  the  Capitol  building 
as  an  inspiration  to  the  young  men  of  the  State  who  are 
to  frame  our  laws.  To  the  faithful  wives  and  mothers 
and  daughters  who  in  their  intense  anxiety  to  aid  in 
defeating  the  foe,  had  left  their  homes  to  work  in  every 
possible  way,  he  says:  “1  doubt  if  women — God  bless 
them  all — can  do  their  best  work  in  the  public  turmoil 
of  this  campaign.  1 wish  it  were  so  we  could  take 
hold  of  it  with  such  manliness  that  they  could  go  back 
home  and  rely  upon  their  prayers  and  our  efforts  to 
carry  it  through.  Woman’s  best  work  is  gentleness. 
She  should  come  as  the  dew,  not  in  the  garish  sunshine 
or  in  the  rushing  storm,  but  when  the  earth  is  wrapped 
in  night’s  sober  hush  falling  like  a soft  distillation  of 
the  stars  upon  the  sleeping  flowers.  Better  work  there, 
but  I honor  her  when  she  comes  to  the  front  in  an  emer- 
gency like  this,  bringing  her  scarred  heart,  tender 
nature  and  shining  eyes  to  aid.  It  is  she  who  has  suf- 
fered most  at  the  hand  of  this  merciless  tyrant.  It  has 


102 


History  of  the 

brought  her  gray  hairs  down  in  sorrow  to  the  grave, 
it  has  stilled  the  laughter  on  the  lips  of  her  children,  it 
has  stifled  the  music  of  her  home  and  filled  it  with 
silence  and  desolation.”  Who  wonders  that  she 
came  weeping  and  praying  for  deliverance? 

Mr.  W.  P.  Pledger,  a speaker  for  the  liquor  men,  had 
declared  from  a public  platform  in  Atlanta  that  when 
women  left  their  homes  to  go  out  in  a campaign  and 
work  for  temperance  they,  by  this  act,  forfeited  their 
right  to  man’s  homage.  In  reply  to  this  Mr.  Grady 
says:  “No  matter  what  my  opinion  on  prohibition 
might  be,  I would  never  support  a people  on  any  issue 
which  voices  a sentiment  that  reflects  upon  the  wives 
and  mothers  of  the  noblest  and  best  men  of  the  city, 
who  wear  heroism  as  a garment.”  Here  followed  one 
of  the  most  terrific  arraignments  of  the  liquor  traffic 
that  has  ever  been  put  into  the  English  language.  Said 
he:  “My  friends,  do  not  trust  the  liquor  traffic.  It  is 
powerful,  aggressive  and  universal  in  its  attacks. 
To-night  it  enters  an  humble  home  and  strikes  the  roses 
from  a woman’s  cheeks,  and  to-morrow  it  challenges 
this  republic  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  To-night  it 
strikes  the  crust  from  the  lips  of  a starving  child  and 
to-morrow  levies  tribute  from  the  government  itself. 
There  is  not  a cottage  in  this  city  humble  enough  to 
escape  it,  no  police  strong  enough  to  shut  it  out.  It 
defies  the  law  when  it  cannot  coerce  suffrage.  It  is 
flexible  to  cajole  but  merciless  in  its  victory.  It  is  the 
mortal  enemy  to  peace  and  order.  The  despoiler  of 
men,  the  terror  of  women,  the  cloud  that  shadows  the 
face  of  children,  the  demon  that  has  dug  more  graves 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


103 


and  sent  more  souls  unsaved  to  judgment  than  all  the 
pestilence  that  has  wasted  life  since  God  sent  the 
plagues  to  Egypt,  and  all  the  wars  that  have  been  waged 
since  Joshua  stood  before  Jericho!  Oh!  my  country- 
men, loving  God  and  Humanity,  do  not  bring  this 
grand  old  city  again  under  its  dominion  and  power!” 
This  was  followed  by  tremendous  applause  and  cries  of 
“We  won’t!  We  won’t!” 

His  two  great  speeches  so  profoundly  impressed  the 
State  and  Nation  that  the  mails  for  weeks  after  they 
were  delivered  brought  urgent  requests  for  their  pub- 
lication in  pamphlet  form  to  be  used  throughout  the 
United  States  as  campaign  literature.  The  Constitu- 
tion Publishing  Company  issued  them  at  once  and  they 
were  scattered  everywhere  and  doubtless  have  done  as 
much  in  other  states  to  hasten  statewide  prohibition  as 
they  have  in  Georgia. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


MRS.  W.  H.  FELTON  A WHITE  RIBBON  ORATOR  OF  PIONEER 
DAYS — ORIGINATED  AND  WROTE  W.  C.  T.  U.  MEMORIAL 
AGAINST  CONVICT  LEASE  IN  1886— MADE  PROHIBITION 
SPEECHES  THROUGHOUT  GEORGIA — SPOKE  AGAINST  THE  IN- 
TERNAL REVENUE  SYSTEM — HER  GREAT  SPEECH  AT  MADISON 
HELPED  TO  CARRY  MORGAN  COUNTY  DRY. 

The  characteristics  of  a genuine  heroism  is  its 
persistency. 

— Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

Because  of  the  unique  place  filled  by  Mrs.  William 
H.  Felton  as  orator  in  the  earlier  days  we  invited  her  to 
prepare  a reminiscent  letter  for  this  volume,  which  she 
has  done  in  her  own  brilliant  way.  It  will  be  of  con- 
suming interest  to  our  readers.  She  says: 

“In  the  Spring  of  1886,  I attended  the  Convention, 
held  that  year  in  the  city  of  Macon,  Ga.  I joined  the 
W.  C.  T.  Union  in  that  year  and  introduced  a resolution 
looking  to  reform  in  the  Convict  Lease  System  of  Geor- 
gia, and  induced  Rev.  J.  H.  Potter,  who  was  then 
editor  of  the  Wesleyan  Christian  Advocate,  to  follow  my 
resolution  with  his  endorsement.  I was  authorized  to 
write  and  present  a memorial  petition  to  the  Georgia 
Legislature,  setting  forth,  so  far  as  I could,  the  horrors 
of  the  Lease  System,  particularly  condemning  the 
boarding  of  women  convicts  along  with  the  male  crim- 


MRS.  WILLIAM  H.  FELTON. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


105 


inals,  and  the  constant  contact  of  juvenile  criminals 
with  veterans  in  crime. 

“A  legislative  report,  made  in  1879  and  printed  in  the 
proceedings  of  that  year’s  General  Assembly,  gave  forth 
the  astounding  fact  that  twenty-five  little  children, 
under  three  years  of  age,  were  then  in  camp,  along  with 
their  convict  mothers,  little  helpless  innocents,  horn  on 
the  chain  gang,  in  the  lowest  depths  of  degraded 
humanity.  These  children,  according  to  the  report  men- 
tioned, who  were  born  from  convict  mothers,  were  also 
the  offspring  of  the  guards,  (employed  by  the  les- 
sees to  punish  all  offenders,)  who  had  basely  used  their 
authority  to  compel  these  women  to  submit  to  their 
carnal  desires.  This  state  of  things  was  so  plainly  hor- 
rible that  I wrote  it  up  in  the  newspapers  at  the  time 
this  legislative  report  was  published,  namely,  1879. 
The  author  of  this  legislative  report  and  also  Chairman 
of  the  Investigating  Committee,  Colonel  Bob  Alston, 
came  to  see  Dr.  Felton  and  myself  in  the  National  Hotel 
in  Washington  City  in  February,  1879,  and  told  me  that 
his  life  had  been  threatened  by  certain  parties  who 
were  connected  with  the  lease,  and  said  that  he  had 
received  a letter  from  his  wife  that  morning,  who  was 
very  uneasy  and  unhappy  on  his  account;  that  certain 
women  whose  husbands  were  making  fortunes  out  of 
the  lease,  were  not  only  defiant,  but  talking  big  of  what 
would  be  done  to  people  who  meddled  with  their  hus- 
bands’ business,  etc.  He  walked  the  floor  and  said  he 
had  never  encountered  such  enmity  in  his  life.  In  a 
few  weeks  he  was  assassinated  in  the  State  Capitol  in 
Atlanta,  murdered  by  a sub-lessee  in  the  office  of  the 


106 


History  of  the 

State  Treasurer,  his  life-blood  spattering  the  very  walls 
of  the  strong-box  of  Georgia  as  he  fell  to  the  floor.  He 
had  appealed  to  Governor  Colquitt  and  told  him  that 
morning  that  he  was  being  hunted  down  by  this  man, 
afterwards  his  slayer. 

“My  husband,  as  a member  of  Congress  from  Georgia, 
was  assailed  in  the  newpapers  by  a United  States  Sen- 
ator, himself  a lessee  of  the  State  convicts  and  the  head 
of  one  of  these  lease  companies.  In  replying  to  his 
attack.  Dr.  Felton  exposed  his  connection  with  these 
infamies  connected  with  the  Lease  System.  When  Dr. 
Felton  offered  again  for  Congress  in  1880,  every  lessee 
bent  his  every  energy  to  silence  him  in  Washington  City 
and  retire  him  from  public  life  in  the  State.  He  was 
counted  out  in  the  election,  and,  as  poor  Bob  Alston 
was  in  his  grave,  the  lessees  believed  they  were  in  the 
saddle  and  all  opponents  silenced.  The  people  of  Bar- 
tow County  persuaded  Dr.  Felton  to  represent  them  in 
the  Georgia  Legislature,  and  he  was  there  when  my 
Memorial  from  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  presented  to  the 
General  Assembly.  He  fathered  the  movement  in  that 
body,  and,  together  we  opened  up  the  war  on  the  hor- 
rible lease  system,  which  was  abolished  a few  years 
ago,  amid  the  execrations  and  loud  denunciations  of  all 
sane  and  sensible  men  in  Georgia.  It  was  stamped 
down  as  the  most  infamous  combination  of  public  graft 
ever  known  in  the  State,  the  Yazoo  Fraud  not  excepted. 
But  it  placed  three  men  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
elected  two  of  them  to  the  Governor’s  chair  in  Georgia, 
and  it  was  the  coupling  of  money  and  base  influence 
of  this  Lease  System  which  fastened  this  vile  octopus 


107 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

on  the  tax  payers  of  the  State  for  twenty  years  after- 
wards; I mean  after  I was  commissioned  by  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.  of  Georgia  to  memorialize  the  Legislature  at  its  State 
Convention  in  the  year  1886.  These  lessees  named 
Congressmen,  they  ruled  the  politics  of  the  State,  and 
they  seemed  so  strongly  entrenched  that  any  opposition 
was  futile. 

“Dr.  Felton  pressed  and  advocated  a reformatory  for 
juveniles  before  the  Legislature,  and  not  only  was  he 
attacked  by  the  lessee’s  influence, but  I,  myself,  a woman 
without  a ballot,  and  no  weapon  but  an  active  pen,  was 
attacked  in  that  Legislative  body,  because  I obeyed  the 
mandate  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  presented  the  Memorial, 
which  aroused  the  anger  and  antipathy  of  these  rich 
lessees  and  their  satellites.  But  this  Memorial  paved 
the  way  to  broader  reasoning  and  fuller  examination 
of  this  terrible  lease  system,  which  was  described  iu 
London,  England,  time  and  again  as,  ‘A  cancer  sore  on 
the  war  stricken  South,’  a blot  on  our  fair  name,  as  a 
section,  and  a withering  blight  and  a menace  to  our 
civilization.  Words  were  not  adequate  to  express  their 
contempt  and  disgust  for  the  infamous  political  com- 
bination which  sentenced  thousands  of  negroes  to  the 
pen  that  these  men  might  rake  in  millions  of  profit  from 
their  labor  and  their  misery. 

“Fifty  years  from  now  the  name  of  every  man  who 
filled  his  pockets  with  this  vile  lease  money  extorted  by 
the  State’s  injustice  from  its  dependent  and  criminal 
classes,  will  be  so  mortifying  to  his  descendants  that  they 
will  eschew  the  very  parentage  as  the  descendants  of 
the  Yazoo  Fraud  swindle  are  forced  to  conceal  the 


108 


History  of  the 


infamy  placed  upon  the  men  who  sold  their  votes  for 
gold,  land  and  negroes  when  that  Yazoo  Fraud  was 
perpetrated. 

“Acting  for  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Georgia,  as  their  agent, 
as  their  messenger,  I led  the  way  to  reform,  and, 
although  it  was  secretly  consummated,  yet  those  negro 
women  convicts  were  removed  from  association  with 
males  in  convict  camps,  and,  as  I was  told,  employed  at 
broom  making  in  a separate  camp,  and  this  removal 
occurred  about  the  year  1890  or  1892. 

“If  I had  not  been  given  liberty  to  approach  the  Legis- 
lature by  your  organization, no  one  can  tell  how  long  the 
movement  might  have  been  delayed.  This  is  one  move- 
ment affecting  Legislation  in  Georgia  which  is  clearly 
traceable  in  its  beginning  to  your  authority — you  de- 
serve the  credit — and  should  boldly  lay  claim  to  it. 

“A  few  days  ago  a convict  white  woman  was  so 
severely  beaten  in  the  Atlanta  convict  camps  that  some 
one  reported  the  outrage.  She  was  given  110  lashes  on 
her  body  by  a white  whipping  boss.  He  admits  that 
he  inflicted  100  lashes  and  says  he  punished  her  for 
cursing  and  obscene  language.  While  I am  a foe  to 
profanity  and  obscenity,  when  was  it  ever  known  before 
that  a brutal  guard  could  ever  be  allowed  to  put  over 
100  lashes  at  one  time  on  one  poor  female’s  body?  And 
for  cursing!  As  it  is  well  known  that  many  men,  out- 
side prison  camps  can  curse  and  go  unwhipt  of  justice, 
I here  propose  to  your  body,  now  in  session,  that  j’ou 
shall  give  me  the  liberty  to  memorialize  our  law  makers 
at  their  next  meeting,  and  I will  call  the  State’s  atten- 
tion to  this  outrageous  punishment.  It  is  clearly  within 


109 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

your  province  to  protest,  and,  while  I have  passed 
seventy-five  years  of  age,  God  willing,  you  shall  have 
some  one  to  bring  the  enormity  of  this  incident  to  the 
State’s  attention,  and  I ask  you  to  consider  your  duty  to 
your  sex  and  State.  And  the  brutal  woman-beater  was 
not  dismissed.  He  was  only  reprimanded  and  is  here 
still,  armed  with  a whip,  and  prepared  to  beat  down 
any  other  white  or  negro  woman  who  uses  obscene 
language  or  curses  in  his  high  and  mighty  presence. 

“As  a pioneer  in  the  Temperance  Cause,  I have  trav- 
eled from  my  home  in  the  gable  end  of  Georgia  to  manji^ 
and  various  places,  towns  and  cities,  to  plead  for  pro- 
hibition in  years  gone  by.  I went  forth  when  the  world 
of  society  looked  askance  at  a woman  who  should  dare 
to  go  out  on  the  public  rostrum  and  plead  for  the  safety 
of  her  people.  The  Liquor  Demon  was  entrenched  in 
every  city  in  Georgia,  when  this  little  David  gathered 
a pocket  full  of  stones  from  the  brook  and  sallied  forth 
to  meet  the  enemy.  How  many  taunts  and  slanders, 
and  covert  insinuations  that  were  thrust  at  me,  eternity 
alone  can  discover.  How  many  sneers  were  leveled  at 
me,  I perhaps  will  never  know,  but  as  I look  back  at  the 
struggles  of  that  early  period,  I almost  tremble  to 
remember  that  I was  the  target  of  such  entrenched 
power  and  influence  and  that  their  slanderous  and 
liquor-soaked  tongues  could  disseminate  their  vile  hints 
and  innuendoes  and  like  thistle  down  in  the  wind,  scat- 
ter them  everywhere — in  public  or  in  secret.  I here 
thank  my  Heavenly  Father  that  He  has  led  me  along  in 
safety  and  that  I live  and  can  congratulate  you  upon 
your  heroic  work  for  curbing  the  liquor  traffic.  You  can 


no 


History  of  the 

never  underestimate  at  this  time  their  willingness  to 
drag  everybody  down  to  the  level  of  the  dram  shop, 
and,  except  their  own  kith  and  kin,  they  spared  nohody 
in  their  effort  to  hold  their  ill-gotten  gains. 

“I  addressed  a joint  committee  of  the  House  and 
Senate  in  behalf  of  the  Bush  Bill,  which  j^ou  recollect, 
and  heard  a man  get  up  and  say  he  would  rather  his 
daughter  should  marry  and  live  with  a drunkard  than 
curb  the  authority  of  the  liquor  dealers  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  their  unholy  traffic.  To  that  complexion  had  it 
come  in  Georgia. 

“The  successive  Legislatures  in  Georgia  memorialized 
Congress  to  repeal  the  infamous  Internal  Bevenue  Sys- 
tem, but  there  was  never  a man  in  Congress  with  cour- 
age sutlicient  to  rise  on  the  floor  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  or  Senate  and  represent  the  wishes  of 
the  citizens  of  the  State  of  Georgia  on  this  subject. 
When  I went  before  a large  Atlanta  audience  at  a State 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  and  made  the  atrocities  of  this 
Internal  Revenue  so  plain  that  he  who  ran  might  read, 
there  was  not  a man  in  Georgia,  save  the  lamented 
Walter  B.  Hill,  of  precious  memory,  who  dared  to  stand 
on  the  same  platform  and  echo  my  stinging  words  to 
that  people.  Preachers  and  pulpits — even  a Bishop  of 
my  own  Church,  took  opposite  sides  in  a political  cam- 
paign that  I wrote  up  in  the  newspapers  and  avowed 
his  opposition  to  any  sort  of  independent  Prohibition 
Campaign  in  Georgia. 

“For  decades  the  people  of  Georgia  were  absolutely 
ruled  by  the  lessees  of  convicts  and  liquor  campaign 
money.  It  is  not  easy  sailing  now,  but  there  were 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


Ill 


breakers  and  tides  innumerable  when  I went  to  Atlanta, 
Macon  and  Thomasville — all  filled  with  liquor  dens,  to 
utter  a protest  against  the  wholesale  slaughter  of  the 
men  and  boys  of  this  country.  This  was  pioneer  work 
— and  hard  work. 

“I  went  to  Madison  when  there  were  two  government 
distilleries  in  full  blast  and  nine  grog  shops  on  the 
main  street,  and  plead  like  a woman  pleads  for  the 
life  of  her  child,  doomed  to  the  gallows.  It  was  my 
dear  mother’s  county,  Morgan  County.  She  went  to 
its  High  School  when  she  was  a girl.  Every  foot  of  the 
soil  around  about  Madison  to-day  is  dear  to  me.  My 
kindred  are  living  there — my  dear  ones  are  buried 
there,  and  every  pulse  in  my  body  thrilled  with  these 
memories  when  I stood  in  a tent  the  day  before  the 
election  and  plead  for  the  safety  of  the  people  and 
their  children.  There  were  fifteen  hundred  voters,  one 
thousand  of  them  were  negro  voters.  I asked  that  the 
negro  men  and  women  might  be  allowed  and  a section 
v/as  arranged  for  them  in  the  tent  as  I requested.  I 
plead  with  them  for  their  own  safety  and  the  safet3^ 
of  their  children  and  when  I reached  home  that  night 
on  a late  train,  I prayed  all  the  way,  that  God  might 
save  and  bless  Madison  and  Morgan  County.  Tired 
to  almost  exhaustion  after  the  day’s  work,  I asked  God 
on  my  knees  at  nearly  midnight  to  bless  mj'^  humble 
efforts  at  next  day’s  election.  I was  the  only  speaker 
of  the  da}" — the  last  plea  was  the  one  I made,  and, 
when  a telegram  was  handed  me  late  the  next  evening 
after  the  election  was  over  saying  Morgan  County  had 
given  four  hundred  majority  for  Prohibition  I was  limp 


112 


History  of  the 


as  a rag  from  fatigue,  but  I was  ready  to  shout  Halle- 
lujah to  God  forever!” 

This  letter,  though  written  in  Mrs.  Felton’s  seventy- 
fifth  year,  blazes  with  the  fires  of  youth  and  rings  with 
the  authority  of  truth.  The  Georgia  Woman’s  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union  stands  uncovered  in  recog- 
nition of  the  priceless  heritage  transmitted  to  them 
through  her  golden  record. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


CONVENTION  OF  1888  AT  BAPTIST  CHURCH,  ATLANTA — MRS. 
CHAPIN,  HON.  WALTER  B.  HILL,  MRS,  FELTON  THE  SPEAK- 
ERS— CONVENTION  IN  1889  AT  AUGUSTA — MOVEMENT  LED 
BY  MRS.  M.  L.  MCLENCON  FOR  STATE  INDUSTRIAL  COLLEGE 
FOR  GIRLS — HIGH  LICENSE  POLICY  CHECKS  INCREASE  OF 
PROHIBITION  COUNTIES — 1890  CONVENTION  AT  ROME — MRS. 
FELTON,  MRS.  McLENDON,  HON.  SEABORN  WRIGHT  THE 
SPEAKERS. 

Two  things  cannot  fail,  righteousness  and  truth. 

— Rev.  J.  W.  Lee. 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  Methodist  Church  was 
the  chief  nourisher  of  the  Georgia  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Union  during  the  first  few  years  of  its 
struggle  for  existence.  It  was  born  in  a Methodist 
Church;  all  conventions  save  two,  for  the  first  six 
years  of  its  life  were  held  in  Methodist  Churches,  their 
pastors  lending  the  inspiration  of  prayer,  counsel  and 
commendation,  but  the  time  had  now  come  when  the 
great  conservative  Baptist  Church  was  to  heed  the  call 
of  God  in  rallying  to  its  support. 

Dr.  J.  B.  Hawthorne,  a Prince  in  Israel,  had  been 
given  to  see  that  to  shut  the  doors  of  Christ’s  Church, 
as  had  been  done  the  previous  year  in  the  city  of 
Savannah,  against  these  women,  was  to  close  them 
against  purity  and  holiness,  against  the  very  cause 
(8) 


11^  History  of  the 

Christ  himself  sanctified — the  home  of  little  children. 
This  great  man  of  God,  who  had  for  many  years  been 
pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Atlanta,  listened  to 
the  scoffs  and  slurs  of  the  liquor  men  heaped  upon 
these  wives  and  mothers  in  the  recent  campaign  in  the 
Capital  City,  and,  like  Henrj"  Grady,  his  manhood 
burned  with  fiery  indignation;  but  most  of  all  he  had 
watched  the  wonderful  self -poise  of  the  women  them- 
selves, their  infinite  patience  and  beautiful  non-resist- 
ance. Thus  impressed  he  sent  to  the  general  officers 
a cordial  and  brotherly  invitation  to  hold  their  sixth 
convention  in  his,  the  First  Baptist  Church,  of  Atlanta. 
This  royal  welcome  from  the  strongest  pulpit  among 
the  Baptists  of  the  State  inspired  a large  delegation  to 
attend.  It  not  only  exceeded  in  numbers  any  conven- 
tion of  the  past,  but  the  personnel  of  the  bodj^  was  of  an 
unusually  high  order.  Notwithstanding  the  year  had 
been  one  of  trial  and  defeat  at  manj^  points,  the  Presi- 
dent’s address  and  Corresponding  Secretaire’s  report 
were  ringing  appeals  for  greater  zeal  and  more  strenu- 
ous effort.  Dr.  H.  C.  Morrison,  now  Bishop  of  the 
Southern  Methodist  Church,  and  at  that  time  pastor  of 
the  First  Methodist  Church,  of  Atlanta,  adjourned  his 
congregation  at  an  evening  hour  to  attend  the  Conven- 
tion and  gave  the  welcome  address  in  behalf  of  the 
ministers.  Hon.  Walter  B.  Hill  delivered  a character- 
istic speech  on  “State  and  National  Prohibition.”  Bev. 
Samuel  W.  Small,  a strong  temperance  writer  on  the 
Constitution  and  other  papers,  sent  greetings  and  re- 
newed pledges  of  allegiance  to  the  cause.  The  prevail- 
ing opinion  of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


115 


Union  at  that  period  is  candidly  given  by  Dr.  Love,  of 
Atlanta,  who,  on  being  introduced  to  the  Convention, 
said  in  frank  but  brotherly  spirit : “My  eyes  have  just 
been  opened  to  the  real  merits  of  the  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Union.  Before  the  coming  of  your  body  to 
our  city  I had  thought  you  were  a set  of  cranks,  harping 
only  on  one  string,  that  of  temperance,  but  I find  that 
your  interests  are  manifold  and  most  beneficent,  that 
you  are  broad-minded  women.” 

So  wide-spread  was  the  idea  that  the  organization 
had  espoused  the  cause  of  “woman  suffrage,”  at  this 
convention  it  became  necessary  to  declare  the  princi- 
ples of  State  rights,  showing  that  though  the  National 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  had  a Depart- 
ment of  Franchise,  that  according  to  the  Constitution, 
each  state  was  granted  the  privilege  of  adopting  only 
such  branches  of  work  as  were  best  suited  to  its  needs; 
thus  having  a law  unto  themselves  they  could  regulate 
their  own  affairs,  being  bound  to  the  National  only  by 
the  total  abstinence  pledge.  (It  is  due  the  Georgia 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  to  here  state 
that  the  prevailing  opinion  touching  their  espousal  of 
woman’s  suffrage,  had  its  origin  not  in  any  official  act 
of  the  organization,  but  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the 
principles  of  State  rights  at  that  time  were  not  generally 
understood;  the  public  assuming  that  each  State  was 
fully  committed  to  every  branch  of  National  work.) 

Professor  Henry  A.  Scomp’s  notable  book  on  the  His- 
tory of  Temperance  in  Georgia,  entitled,  “King  Alcohol 
in  the  Realm  of  King  Cotton,”  had  just  been  issued  from 
the  press  and  was  most  heartily  endorsed  by  the  Con- 


116 


History  of  the 

vention.  The  noble  author  had  given  large  space  to  a 
full  sketch  of  the  Georgia  Woman’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  clearly  and  accurately  written  by  Miss 
Missouri  Stokes.  The  National  Union  and  its  immortal 
founder,  Frances  E.  Willard,  was  also  noticed  at 
length  and  commended  by  the  writer.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  movement  he  had  been  one  of  its 
warmest  supporters,  and  at  many  trying  junctures  by 
wise  counsel,  fervent  prayers,  and  cheering  words  had 
inspirited  the  Georgia  Workers.  He  stood  by  his  excel- 
lent wife  as  President  of  the  Oxford  Union,  where  from 
one  to  three  hundred  young  men  in  Emory  College  were 
pledged  to  total  abstinence,  like  a great  forest  oak,  pro- 
tecting her  from  the  storms  of  criticism  which  came 
from  wellnigh  every  source. 

Four  new  departments  were  adopted  at  this  Conven- 
tion; The  Department  of  Young  Woman’s  Work, 
Work  Among  Soldiers  and  Sailors,  Non-Narcotic,  Non- 
Alcoholic  Treatment  in  Medicine  and  Sabbath  Observ- 
ance. Under  the  department  of  Social  Purity,  em- 
phatic deliverances  were  made  against  the  sale  of 
tobacco  to  minors,  calling  for  the  suppression  of  the 
impure  pictures  as  advertising  mediums;  and  against 
the  sensational  press.  The  reports  from  the  various 
departments  were  exceptionally  fine.  That  of  Mrs. 
S.  J.  Blanchard,  of  Columbus,  on  “Relative  Statistics,” 
and  Mrs.  A.  N.  Calloway  on  “Social  Purity”  are  worthy 
of  preservation  in  permanent  form.  In  referring  to  the 
memorial  to  the  Legislature  for  a “Home  of  Refuge” 
for  “Reformed  Fallen  Women,”  Mrs.  Calloway  says:, 
“On  the  22nd  of  September,  by  previous  arrangement 


117 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

made  in  our  behalf  through  Colonel  C.  R.  Pringle,  of  the 
Senate,  a committee  from  that  body  met  a committee 
from  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  of 
Atlanta,  in  the  auditorium  of  the  First  Baptist  Church. 
The  ladies  constituting  the  committee  were  Miss 
Missouri  Stokes,  State  Corresponding  Secretary;  Mrs.  E. 
C.  Witter,  President  of  the  Atlanta  Union;  Mrs.  A.  N. 
Calloway,  then  local  Superintendent  of  Social  Purity 
Work;  with  Mrs.  Auten  and  Mrs.  O’Conner.  Colonel 
Pringle,  as  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee,  cour- 
teously received  us  and  read  the  memorial  signed  by 
Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  President,  and  other  State  Officers, 
asking  the  Legislature  to  appropriate  $5,000  toward 
founding  in  Atlanta  a home  of  refuge  for  penitent 
fallen  women.  Mrs.  Witter  and  Mrs.  Calloway  gave 
forceful  reasons  why  the  appropriation  asked  should  be 
granted.  Miss  Stokes  read  a paper  showing  how  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  in  other  states 
had  taken  such  work  in  hand  and  carried  it  to  success. 
She  pointed  out  the  adaptability  of  the  organization 
with  its  large  number  of  trained  laborers  in  all  denomi- 
nations to  enterprise  and  work  in  such  an  institu- 
tion, but  above  all  the  crying  need  of  temperance 
organizations  to  have  open  a door  of  refuge  for  hun- 
dreds of  women  who  are  degraded  and  debauched 
through  the  drink  habit  and  when  penitent  and  re- 
formed have  no  place  of  refuge  whither  they  can  go 
to  rebuild  their  ruined  and  shattered  characters.  Mrs. 
Auten  and  Mrs.  O’Conner  gave  thrilling  incidents  com- 
ing under  their  own  observation,  showing  that  in  all 
Atlanta  there  is  not  an  open  door  for  penitent  women. 


118  History  of  the 

Letters  from  Mrs.  Merrick,  of  Louisiana,  Mrs.  M.  W. 
Wolfe,  of  New  Orleans,  and  other  rescue  workers  in 
various  parts  of  the  United  States,  together  with  reports 
from  several  different  Homes  of  Refuge,  were  left  in 
the  hands  of  the  Committee.  September  26th  another 
meeting  was  held  which  was  so  pervaded  by  a con- 
sciousness of  the  awful  responsibility  resting  upon 
those  present,  that  in  the  midst  of  a solemn  hush  as 
Mrs.  Auten  spoke  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit, 
showing  the  necessity  for  Rescue  Work,  not  only  for 
women  but  for  men,  the  strong  men  of  the  committee 
wept  and  pledged  to  present  a bill  to  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, asking  for  the  appropriation. 

Mr.  Walker,  of  Putnam  County,  drew  up  and  intro- 
duced a bill  but  it  was  adversely  reported  by  the 
Finance  Committee,  to  whom  it  was  referred,  thus 
virtually  defeating  it.  Under  this  Department,  Social 
Purity,  a “Silver  Crown”  pledge  was  required  of  boys 
below  sixteen  years  of  age,  which  is  given  to  show  the 
beautiful  chivalry  and  perfect  manliness  thus  taught: 

“I  promise  by  the  help  of  God: 

“1st.  To  treat  all  women  with  courtesy  and  respect 
and  to  be  especially  kind  to  all  persons  who  are  poorer 
or  weaker  or  younger  than  myself. 

“2nd.  To  be  modest  in  word  or  deed  and  to  dis- 
courage profane  and  impure  language;  never  doing  or 
saying  anything  that  I would  be  unwilling  to  have 
known  by  my  father  or  mother. 

“3rd.  To  avoid  all  conversation,  reading,  j^ictures 
and  amusements  which  may  put  impure  thoughts  into 
my  mind. 


119 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

“4th.  To  guard  the  purity  of  others,  especially  of 
companions  and  friends,  and  avoid  speaking  or  think- 
ing evil. 

“5th.  To  keep  my  body  in  temperance,  soberness 
and  chastity.” 

Officers  for  the  ensuing  year  were  practically  the 
same  as  the  year  previous,  with  the  exception  of  six 
District  Presidents,  who  were  assigned  to  as  many  Con- 
gressional Districts  which  came  in  the  following  order: 

First  District,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter;  Second  District,  Mrs. 
S.  J.  Blanchard;  Third  District,  Mrs.  R.  D.  Walker; 
Fourth  District,  Mrs.  Inez  Gibson;  Fifth  District,  Mrs.  J. 
Jefferson  Thomas;  Sixth  District,  Mrs.  John  A.  Jones. 

After  more  than  two  decades  the  proceedings  of  this 
Convention  are  warm  with  the  fires  of  heroism.  Sledge 
hammer  strokes  of  truth  given  by  such  women  as  Mrs. 
Chapin,  of  South  Carolina,  and  Mrs.  William  H.  Felton, 
of  Georgia,  and  such  apostles  of  righteousness  as  Hon. 
Walter  B.  Hill,  riveted  convictions  that  will  abide  for- 
ever. 

The  notable  features  of  the  Seventh  Annual  Con- 
vention which  met  in  St.  John’s  Methodist  Church, 
Augusta,  Georgia,  April  16-19,  1889,  were  a series  of 
important  resolutions,  memorializing  the  next  Legis- 
lature to  enact  a law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquor 
within  a radius  of  three  miles  of  all  State  institutions 
of  learning;  appropriating  a fund  for  the  establish- 
ment of  an  Industrial  School  for  Girls;  founding  a 
State  Reformatory  for  penitent  fallen  women;  and 
passing  a statutory  law  closing  all  barrooms. 


120 


History  of  the 

The  petition  for  an  “Industrial  College  for  Girls”  was 
the  outgrowth  of  a vigorous  paper  written  by  Mrs.  M.  L. 
McLendon,  of  Atlanta,  appealing  to  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Georgia  to  circulate  a 
petition  through  the  State,  asking  that  the  Legislature 
be  memorialized  in  behalf  of  such  an  institution.  Mrs. 
McLendon,  not  only  by  this  request  to  the  State  Union, 
but  through  the  leading  dailies  repeatedly  and  elo- 
quently urged  the  founding  of  the  school  in  behalf  of 
the  girls  of  Georgia.  She  was  joined  in  the  movement 
by  Mrs.  J.  J.  Ansley,  wife  of  Rev.  J.  J.  Ansley,  of  the 
South  Georgia  Conference,  who  wrote  through  the 
Atlanta  Constitution  and  the  Wesleyan  Christian  Advo- 
cate, calling  public  attention  to  the  great  necessity  for 
industrial  training  being  given  the  girls  and  especially 
the  poor  girls  of  the  State.  Through  the  efforts  of  Mrs. 
Ansley  and  Mrs.  W.  P.  Lovejoy,  wife  of  Dr.  W.  P.  Love- 
joy,  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference,  the  Woman’s 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  that  Conference  also 
memorialized  the  Legislature  for  the  establishment  of 
the  College.  Under  the  leadership  of  Hon.  W.  Y.  Atkin- 
son, afterwards  Governor  of  Georgia,  a bill  passed  the 
Legislature  in  1889,  and  an  Industrial  College  for  Girls 
was  later  founded  at  Milledgeville,  Georgia,  where  it 
has  been  turning  out  hundreds  of  girls  equipped  for 
life’s  struggles. 

In  behalf  of  the  four  vital  interests  represented 
in  the  memorial  of  the  Seventh  Convention,  Mrs. 
W.  C.  Sibley  wrote  and  published  in  pamphlet 
form  one  of  the  most  thrilling  heart  appeals  that  has 
ever  been  made  to  any  Legislative  body,  a copy  of 


HON.  SEABORN  WRIGHT. 
Leader  of  the  Prohibition  Party. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  121 

which  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  each  member  of  the 
General  Assembly. 

The  defeat  of  prohibition  in  Atlanta  and  in  Meri- 
wether and  Walton  Counties  in  1887,  caused  the  rising 
tide  of  temperance  sentiment  to  recede  temporarily, 
and  from  1888-1889  no  prohibition  victories  were 
achieved.  In  the  meantime  the  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  through  sixteen  different  depart- 
ments was  using  redoubled  energy  to  arouse  the  public 
to  a sense  of  danger  coming  through  high  license,  which 
had  been  introduced  in  Atlanta,  Rome,  Augusta,  and 
other  places  as  a so-called  stepping  stone  to  prohibition. 

At  the  Eighth  Annual  Convention  which  convened  in 
the  First  Methodist  Church,  Rome,  May  6-8,  1890,  the 
women  came  armed  with  the  two-edged  sword  of  the 
Spirit,  to  slay  error  as  never  before.  The  President’s 
address  and  Corresponding  Secretary’s  report  were 
filled  with  scathing  rebukes  to  many  who  had  compro- 
mised with  the  liquor  traffic.  Mrs.  William  H.  Felton 
spoke  in  her  strong  inimitable  style  on,  “The  Relation 
of  Woman  to  the  Temperance  Reform.”  Her  brave 
sister,  Mrs.  Mary  L.  McLendon,  gave  in  a paper  irrefut- 
able proof  of  Atlanta’s  prosperity  and  morality  under 
prohibition.  Hon.  Seaborn  Wright,  of  prohibition 
fame,  Mrs.  Chapin,  of  South  Carolina,  able  helpers  from 
Alabama,  Connecticut  and  Tennessee,  together  with 
Georgia’s  invincible  corps  of  officers,  made  up  a firing 
line  which  caused  the  enemy  to  gird  his  loins  for 
renewed  attacks. 

At  the  close  of  this  Convention  a telegram  was 
received  from  Col.  C.  R.  Pringle,  (who  was  at  that  time 


122 


History  of  the 

presiding  over  the  Georgia  ProhDjition  Association  in 
session  in  Atlanta),  inviting  the  hody  to  stop  over  and 
attend  their  Convention,  for  the  purpose  of  a joint  con- 
ference on  various  interests,  notably  the  Anti-Barroom 
Bill,  which  was  to  he  presented  at  the  next  Legislature. 
A large  number  of  the  delegation  accepted  the  invita- 
tion, among  them,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Felton,  who  is  connected 
with  an  amusing  incident,  illustrating  the  caution  of 
the  men  and  the  aggressiveness  of  the  women  in  that 
day.  After  a discussion  of  the  Anti-Barroom  Bill,  Mr. 
Carmichael,  (a  countryman),  spoke  on  the  unwisdom 
of  “mixing  politics  and  temperance,”  thus  discouraging 
any  radical  move  looking  to  temperance  legislation. 
As  he  resumed  his  seat  Mrs.  Felton,  who  was  then  in 
the  prime  of  her  brilliant  intellectual  strength,  sprang 
to  her  feet  with  flashing  eyes  and  fiery  indignation;  in 
a torrent  of  facts  she  showed  how  a dilatory  and  lag- 
ging policy  on  the  part  of  the  temperance  forces  had 
given  the  liquor  traffic  the  reins  of  government  in  Geor- 
gia and  how  the  state  would  be  forever  under  the 
yoke  of  the  iniquitous  curse  unless  her  citizenship  arose 
and  demanded  prohibition.  As  she  wielded  the  power- 
ful weapons  of  wit,  satire  and  pathos,  the  old  man 
whom  she  was  answering  got  up  from  where  he  was 
sitting  in  a split  bottom  chair,  placing  it  on  his  head, 
he  walked  the  full  length  of  the  hall  where  Mrs.  Felton 
was  standing  and  sat  down  in  front  of  her,  his  arms 
resting  on  his  knees  and  his  face  in  his  hands,  fixing 
his  eyes  upon  her  until  she  had  finished,  when  he  looked 
up  in  utter  astonishment  and  said:  “Well!  I have  not 
had  such  a spanking  since  my  mother  gave  me  one!” 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


123 


This  was  followed  by  uprdarous  applause.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  Mrs.  Felton  carried  her  point  and  the  Con- 
vention resolved  to  press  with  all  diligence  the  interests 
of  the  Anti-Barroom  Bill.  Her  consuming  zeal  was 
typical  of  all  White  Bibboners;  the  curse  had  pierced 
through  the  heart  of  the  mothers  and  they  could  no 
longer  bear  delay. 

As  an  evidence  that  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  was  called  of  God,  any  casual  reader  of  its 
history  as  recorded  in  the  Annual  Beports,  can  see  that 
when  the  foe  became  more  determined  and  waxed 
stronger,  leaders  of  the  organization  grew  in  courage 
and  power,  until  at  times  their  earnestness  became  so 
intense  as  to  quicken  the  faith  and  inspire  the  hope  of 
the  most  doubting.  They  made  no  compromise, 
heeded  no  backward  step,  but  holding  the  banner  aloft 
marched  with  firm  tread  against  every  advocate  of  any- 
thing less  than  absolute  prohibition.  So  persistently 
did  they  pursue  this  course,  that  even  some  ministers 
of  the  Gospel  regarded  them  as  agitators  of  extreme 
type,  and  repeatedly  advised  to  go  slower  and  ask  for 
less. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


\ 


INVITED  BY  THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE  THE  NATIONAL  W.  C.  T.  U. 

COMES  TO  ATLANTA,  NOVEMBER,  1890 FRANCES  WILLARD, 

ANNA  GORDON,  ELIZABETH  GREENWOOD  AMONG  THE  SPEAK- 
ERS— MARY  H.  HUNT,  MARY  T.  LATHROP  AND  CLARA  C. 

HOFFMAN  ADDRESS  THE  LEGISLATURE GREAT  IMPETUS 

GIVEN  BY  NATIONAL  CONVENTION. 


The  Lord  giveth  the  word, 
the  tidings  are  a great  host. 


The  women  that  publish 
— Psalm  68:11. 


Prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  National  Convention  of 
the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  in  1890  in 
Atlanta,  Georgia,  comparatively  little  was  known  by 
the  people  at  large  throughout  the  State  of  the  object 
and  aims  of  the  organization.  With  no  means  save 
the  voluntary  offerings  of  the  consecrated  few,  no  State 
organizer  or  State  paper,  the  Annual  Conventions,  with 
here  and  there  a public  meeting,  and  articles  through 
the  press  wherever  the  space  could  be  obtained  gratui- 
tousl5^  together  with  the  distribution  of  literature,  were 
practically  the  only  medium  by  which  the  people  could 
be  informed  touching  the  policy  and  the  purposes  of 
the  movement.  Being  convinced  that  it  was  a lack  of 
knowledge  of  the  motives  which  gave  birth  to  the 
woman’s  crusade  against  the  saloon  that  caused  many 
of  Georgia’s  women  to  stand  aloof  from  the  Union,  and 
believing  that  the  National  Convention,  with  its  large 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  125 

corps  of  trained  laborers  and  public  speakers,  with  its 
great  host  of  women  who  are  not  only  strongly  en- 
dowed intellectually  but  filled  with  the  spirit,  would 
become  an  object  lesson  of  irresistible  force.  Rev. 
Samuel  W.  Small,  Methodist  Evangelist  and  eloquent 
advocate  of  total  abstinence,  took  the  initiative  in 
extending  an  invitation  to  the  National  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  to  hold  its  next  session  in 
1890  in  the  capitol  of  Georgia.  He  influenced  the  Legis- 
lature to  pass  a resolution  inviting  the  body  which 
was  endorsed  by  the  Governor — Hon.  W.  J.  Northen, 
who,  as  legislator  and  senator,  valiantly  fought  the 
battles  of  prohibition.  On  November  7th,  1889,  the 
message  of  Mr.  Small  was  read  before  the  Local  Union 
of  Atlanta,  by  the  Secretary,  Miss  M.  H.  Stokes.  It  not 
only  announced  the  fact  that  the  Legislature  and  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State  had  invited  the  National  to  hold  its 
next  session  in  Atlanta,  but  gave  assurance  of  ample 
support  to  the  Convention  and  desired  the  endorse- 
ment of  the  invitation  by  the  Union.  The  Secretary 
was  instructed  to  reply  that  while  the  invitation  was 
endorsed,  owing  to  financial  inability  the  Union  could 
assume  no  obligation  to  meet  the  expense  of  worthily 
entertaining  so  large  and  distinguished  a body.  The 
Union  received  redoubled  assurance  that  the  men  would 
see  that  funds  were  provided,  and  requested  that  the 
invitation  be  sent  at  once  to  Miss  Willard,  who  was  at 
that  time  presiding  over  the  National  Convention  in 
session  in  Chicago.  After  conferring  with  Mrs.  W.  C. 
Sibley,  State  President,  to  whom  had  been  forwarded 
the  action  of  the  Legislature  and  Chief  Executive,  the 


126 


History  of  the 

State  Corresponding  Secretary,  Miss  M.  H.  Stokes,  pre- 
sented the  invitation  to  the  Official  Board  of  the 
National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  and 
received  cordial  acceptance. 

Never  did  Mrs.  Sibley,  as  President,  arise  in  greater 
strength  to  the  pressing  needs  of  arousing  the  Unions, 
especially  the  local  Union  of  Atlanta,  to  the  import- 
ance of  enthusiastic  and  concerted  action  in  preparing 
for  the  Convention.  She  called  a meeting  in  Atlanta 
of  all  Temperance  Societies  of  the  city,  inviting  the 
ministers  of  the  gospel  and  every  individual  interested 
in  the  cause  of  temperance,  whom  she  addressed  with 
earnestness,  stating  that  the  feeble  band  of  the  Georgia 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  who,  for  eight 
years  had  stood  almost  alone  in  advocating  the  prin- 
ciples of  no  compromise  with  the  liquor  traffic,  had 
now  come  to  be  regarded  as  a potent  factor  in  i3ush- 
ing  the  interests  of  prohibition,  therefore  she  asked  the 
co-operation  of  every  lover  of  humanity  to  aid  in 
making  it  possible  that  the  National  Convention,  by 
reason  of  a magnificent  Southern  welcome,  the  princely 
chivalry  of  the  South,  and  above  all  the  fervent  prayers 
of  Christians,  should  be  made  the  greatest  moral  force 
of  any  Convention  in  its  history.  She  explained  that 
the  local  and  State  Union  had  not  primarily  invited  it, 
but  since  God  had  moved  the  hearts  of  the  highest 
ruling  officials  of  the  State  to  extend  the  hand  of 
welcome  to  her  sisters  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  the 
Union  throughout  the  State  not  only  endorsed  their 
action  most  heartily,  but  bad  faith  to  believe  that  the 
expense  atttached  to  the  entertainment  would  be  forth- 


127 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

coming.  At  this  meeting  such  enthusiasm  was  created 
that  the  work  of  preparing  for  the  Convention  went 
forward  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Mass  meetings  were 
held  at  Trinity  Methodist  Church  addressed  by  Mrs. 
Sibley,  Dr.  J.  W.  Lee,  the  pastor.  Dr.  J.  W.  Heidt,  Pre- 
siding Elder  of  the  Atlanta  District,  and  Rev.  Bolling 
Sassnett,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  followed  by  a col- 
lection for  Convention  expenses.  Rev.  Sam  W.  Small 
and  Rev.  Sam  P.  Jones  lectured  to  large  crowds  and 
solicited  contributions,  but  a personal  canvass  of  the 
city  by  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley  and  Miss  M.  H.  Stokes,  jdelded 
a larger  return  than  any  public  collection. 

The  generous  response  of  Atlanta’s  citizenship  gave 
an  impetus  to  the  work  of  the  various  local  committees. 
The  National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union 
sent  a committee  of  skilled,  experienced  women  to  co- 
operate with  those  on  the  ground  in  perfecting  the 
final  plans.  The  trustees  of  Trinity  Methodist  Church, 
the  leading  Methodist  Church  of  the  City,  tendered 
the  Convention  the  use  of  the  building  with  the  restric- 
tion that  no  lectures  should  be  given  in  either  upstairs 
or  downstairs.  In  view  of  this  the  local  committee 
engaged  DeGive’s  Opera  House  for  any  lecture  which 
the  Convention  Program  had  arranged.  The  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Entertainment  was  notified  that 
a formal  reception  would  be  tendered  the  body  at  the 
Executive  Mansion  by  Governor  and  Mrs.  Northen. 
The  city  papers  opened  their  columns  to  all  notices 
and  communications  as  well  as  giving  prominence  to 
historical  sketches  of  the  National  Officers,  thus  the 
work  and  workers  were  so  widely  advertised  before 


128  History  of  the 

the  meeting  of  the  Convention  that  Georgia  and  adjoin- 
ing states  were  apprized  of  the  fact  that  a body  of 
unusual  significance,  representing  the  flower  of  Amer- 
ican womanhood,  standing  for  the  greatest  moral  re- 
form of  the  19th  century,  was  to  meet  within  the  gates 
of  Georgia’s  Capital.  The  thrill  of  such  a welcome  was 
felt  for  weeks  prior  to  the  meeting.  Frances  Willard, 
in  her  distant  Illinois  home,  and  other  chief  officers, 
began  to  feel  ere  they  touched  the  limits  of  the  Con- 
vention city,  the  wonderful  meeting  of  a Southern  wel- 
come. 

On  the  evening  of  November  the  14th,  1890,  the  first 
public  meeting  of  the  Convention,  Trinity  Church  was 
packed  to  its  utmost  capacity,  the  verj"  atmosphere 
charged  with  the  spirit  of  cordiality.  Addresses  of 
welcome  were  delivered  in  behalf  of  the  ministry"  by 
Dr.  J.  W.  Lee  and  Dr.  J.  W.  Heidt,  of  the  Methodist 
Church;  in  behalf  of  the  President  hj"  Messrs.  Claud 
Bennett,  B.F.  Abbott,  Montgomery  Folsom,  C.  D.  Barker, 
editor  of  The  Southern  Star,  a strong  temperance  paper, 
and  Mr.  E.  M.  Evans;  in  behalf  of  the  Georgia  W.  C. 
T.  U.,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley  and  Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin.  Mrs. 
Caroline  Buell,  of  Connecticut,  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Lathrop, 
of  Michigan,  and  Miss  Kinnear,  of  South  Dakota,  re- 
sponded. At  that  hour  when  the  love  and  strength  of  the 
North,  East  and  West  met  the  love  and  strength  of  the 
South  in  a glory  of  a highly  developed  and  consecrated 
womanhood,  surrounded  by  Georgia's  noble  sons, 
standing  in  the  blessing  eager  to  aid, 

“Forgotten  was  each  thought  and  hushed, 

Save  by  the  foe  all  were  crushed.” 


129 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

The  divine  Spirit  had  filled  every  heart  with  love. 
The  White  Ribbon,  typical  of  purity  and  unity,  had 
crossed  the  line  of  sectional  differences  and  in  one 
solid  phalanx  that  brave  crowd  of  brave  women  from 
every  State  in  the  Nation  stood  hand  in  hand  and  heart 
to  heart,  pledging  to  do  and  dare  in  the  name  of 
American  firesides.  Sanctified  unselfishness,  which  from 
the  first  pervaded  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  not  only  blotted  out  sectional  lines,  but  what 
was  infinitely  more  important,  denominational  lines. 
In  that  great  assembly  of  six  hundred  delegates  and 
perhaps  as  many  visitors,  wondering  spectators  could 
but  exclaim,  “Behold  how  these  Christians  love !” 
From  day  to  day  throughout  the  Convention,  while  such 
women  as  Frances  Willard,  Anna  A.  Gordon,  Clara  C. 
Hoffman,  Mary  T.  Lafhrop,  Mary  H.  Hunt,  Elizabeth 
Greenwood  and  scores  of  others  spoke  with  irresistible 
earnestness,  many  of  Georgia’s  choicest  women  and 
truest  men  were  brought  to  see  that  hitherto  they  had 
misunderstood  the  purpose  of  the  organization. 
Scores  of  women  entered  the  ranks  of  the  Union,  some 
of  whom  have  developed  into  leaders  of  ability  and 
now  stand  as  living  witnesses  to  the  unquenchable  fires 
which  were  there  kindled  on  the  altars  of  their  hearts. 

We  vividly  recall  Miss  Willard’s  annual  message. 
Standing  erect,  with  manuscript  in  hand,  pale,  strong- 
faced, resolute,  declaring  the  great  principles  of  the 
fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  turn- 
ing to  the  men,  she  said:  “My  brothers,  do  not  mis- 
understand us,  we  are  not  overstepping  our  sphere,  we 
are  only  laboring  to  get  at  one  end  of  the  line  while 

(9) 


iSO 


History  of  the 

you  stand  at  the  other,  to  help  you  lift  the  burdens  of 
the  world.  We  have  been  indoors  enjoying  the  blessed 
protection  you  have  given  and  as  we  lingered  in  selfish 
ease  we  heard  the  voice  of  a dying  brother  and  a cry  of 
a sister  pleading  for  us  to  join  hands  with  you  in  driving 
back  the  greatest  enemy  of  the  home — the  legalized 
saloon.”  After  twenty  years  of  wondrous  persuasion 
of  her  musical  voice,  the  tender  grace  of  her  gentle 
bearing,  the  weight  of  her  invincible  logic,  the  hushed 
silence  which  fell  upon  that  listening  multitude  as  she 
plead  for  fallen  humanity,  comes  as  a thrilling  uplift.  In 
DeGive’s  Opera  House  on  Sunday  afternoon  she  again 
spoke  on  “The  Necessity  of  Love  and  Marriage.”  At 
the  same  hour  Mrs.  Zerelda  Wallace,  mother  of  General 
Lew  Wallace,  of  Ben-Hur  fame,  delivered  an  address 
on  “Woman  Suffrage,”  carrjdng  such  conviction  with 
her  arguments  as  to  cause  that  large  Southern  audience 
to  rise  and  wave  their  handkerchiefs  at  the  close,  in 
approval. 

Many  of  the  churches  of  the  city  were  open 
to  the  delegates  on  Sabbath  morning.  A profound  im- 
pression was  made  by  a discourse  from  Mrs.  Mary^  T. 
Lathrop,  of  Michigan,  who  was  an  ordained  minister  of 
the  Congregational  Church,  delivered  in  Dr.  Haw- 
thorne’s pulpit  of  the  First  Baptist  Church.  Large, 
vigorous,  with  the  glow  of  health  in  her  cheeks,  the 
lines  of  strength  and  resolute  purpose  written  in  her 
face,  standing  with  the  calmness  of  a well  poised  char- 
acter, deliberate  in  manner,  free  from  gesture,  she 
appeared  as  one  who  knew  the  truth  and  whom  the  truth 
had  made  free.  There  was  an  absence  of  effort  to 


131 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

please  or  appeal  either  to  the  emotion  or  to  prevailing 
opinions.  She  was  there  to  reason  of  righteousness  and 
of  the  judgment  to  come.  Gaining  momentum  as  she 
proceeded,  the  consciences  of  her  hearers  were  so 
stirred  that  there  was  visible  emotion  on  the  part  of 
many,  among  them.  Dr.  Hawthorne  himself,  who  sat 
upon  the  platform  at  her  side.  Those  who  came  to  see 
a woman  in  a pulpit  and  hear  a woman  preach  because 
of  the  novelty,  forgot  that  she  was  a woman  and  began 
to  ask,  “What  must  I do  to  be  saved?” 

Both  the  ministrations  on  the  Sabbath  and  the  delib- 
erations of  the  Convention,  brought  hundreds  of  Geor- 
gians to  recognize  the  fact  that  woman  could  speak  in 
public  and  not  only  retain  her  womanly  dignity  and 
graciousness,  but  become  in  the  hands  of  God  a mighty 
agency  for  good.  The  perfect  decorum,  beautiful  cour- 
tesy, ready  dispatch  of  business,  strict  adherence  to 
parliamentary  usage,  self-command  under  exciting 
debates,  and  above  all  the  manifest  presence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  setting  the  seal  of  His  approval  upon  the 
work,  made  a deep  and  enduring  impression  on  those 
who  attended.  Prestige  was  given  the  State  Union 
by  reason  of  its  vital  connection  with  the  National 
organization  and  a powerful  stimulus  infused  into  its 
fifteen  departments. 

Not  the  least  among  the  beneficent  results  of  the 
Convention  was  its  quickening  effects  upon  the 
flagging  forces  of  prohibition  in  the  State.  The 
Legislature,  which  was  then  in  session,  was  addressed 
by  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt  on  “A  Scientific  Temperance 
Instruction  Law;”  also  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Lathrop  and  Mrs. 


132 


History  of  the 

Clara  C.  Hoffman  on  “National  Prohibition,”  A Com- 
mittee composed  of  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  Mrs.  Mary  H. 
Hunt,  and  Mrs.  Walter  B.  Hill  met  a joint  committee 
from  the  House  and  Senate  and  in  a fervent  appeal 
Mrs.  Hunt  showed  how  every  State  in  the  Union  save 
seven,  had  adopted  such  a law  and  with  what  far- 
reaching  results. 

A marked  courtesy  was  extended  the  Georgia  W. 
C.  T.  U.  by  the  Convention,  in  allowing  six  voting  dele- 
gates from  so  small  an  organization.  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley, 
Miss  M.  H.  Stokes,  Miss  Emmie  Stewart,  and  Mrs.  Clai- 
borne Sneed  were  granted  the  privilege  of  ex-officio 
members,  Mrs.  Walter  B.  Hill  as  delegate  at  large  and 
Mrs.  Marguerite  Candler  for  five  hundred  paying  mem- 
bers. 

The  broadness  and  intensity  of  the  work  of  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  through  its 
thirty  departments  of  prevention  touching  well-nigh 
every  phase  of  life,  was  a revelation  to  many  Georgians 
who  were  brought  to  see  that  after  a generation  of  such 
education  and  agitation,  prohibition  would  naturally 
follow.  On  demonstration  night.  Miss  Anna  Gordon, 
World’s  Secretary  of  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion, 
with  her  host  of  trained  children;  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt, 
with  scientific  temperance  in  the  public  schools, 
and  others  representing  the  Press  Department.  Medal 
Contest,  Sabbath  Observance,  Flower  Mission,  Sunday 
School  Work,  Health  and  Heredity,  and  most  of  all  the 
Evangelistic,  the  great  dynamo  of  the  movement, 
together  with  the  twenty-one  others  of  vital  significance, 
offered  convincing  proof  that  the  liquor  traffic  would  be 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


133 


forced  out  of  quarters  through  the  laws  of  cause  and 
effect,  and  though  the  weapons  of  their  warfare  were 
peaceful,  yet  they  were  mighty  through  God  to  the 
pulling  down  of  strongholds.  Under  the  blazing 
light  of  knowledge  turned  on  by  this  heaven-born 
movement,  the  people  through  their  ruling  authorities, 
would  rise  up  and  shake  off  the  yoke  which  had 
dragged  them  down  for  more  than  a hundred  years. 
The  intelligence  of  the  State  of  Georgia  recognizing  this, 
blessed  the  women  who  came  as  an  object  lesson  in 
their  midst,  and  as  the  great  Convention  closed  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  and  the  bond  of  love  which  had  per- 
vaded the  body  from  the  first  service,  so  deepened  and 
widened,  that  the  benedictions  of  Heaven  were  pro- 
nounced upon  all  hearts.  Since  that  glad  day  there  has 
been  to  Georgia  White  Ribboners  touching  their  pur- 
poses, no  North  and  no  South,  but  one  grand  Union 
bounded  by  love,  one  consuming  and  all  absorbing  aim, 
to  uplift,  purify  and  ennoble  fallen  humanity  until  the 
very  ends  of  the  earth  shall  break  forth  into  singing,  and 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea ! 


CHAPTER  IX. 


STATE  CONVENTION  AT  THOMASVILLE,  1891 MRS.  MARY  T. 

LATHROP  THE  SPEAKER — CONVENTION  AT  MILLEDGEVILLE 

1892 MRS.  SALLIE  F.  CHAPIN  AND  MRS.  FELTON  SPEAK — - 

FIVE  PROHIBITION  COUNTIES  ADDED DISPENSARY  ESTAB- 

LISHED IN  ATHENS — S.  T.  I.  LAW  DEFEATED  THE  THIRD 

TIME  IN  LEGISLATURE — CONVENTION  IN  1893  AT  MACON 

OPPOSITION  OF  LEADING  BAPTIST  MINISTERS — NORTH 

GEORGIA  M.  E.  CONFERENCE  REFUSES  ENDORSEMENT 

MRS.  WILLIAM  C.  SIBLEY,  MRS.  W.  H.  FELTON,  AND  MRS. 
LELLA  A.  DILLARD  DEFEND  THE  W.  C.  T.  U. — WOMAN  SUF- 
FRAGE CONTROVERSY  SET  AT  REST. 

Not  a truth  has  to  art  or  science  been  given  but  brows 
have  ached  for  it,  and  souls  toiled  and  striven. 

— Owen  Meredith. 

Only  a cursory  review  of  the  work  of  1891  will  show 
the  inspirational  influence  of  the  National  organization 
which  met  in  Atlanta  the  year  previous.  Old  Unions 
were  revived  and  large  numbers  added  to  their  mem- 
bership, this  being  notably  true  of  the  two  Atlanta 
Unions,  where  the  roll  of  members  increased  to  one 
hundred  and  eighty.  More  new  Unions  were  formed 
than  at  any  period  of  its  history"  and  with  greater 
enthusiasm.  At  the  State  Convention  which  convened 
at  Thomasville,  Georgia,  in  the  Methodist  Church,  April 
11-15,  the  spirit  of  praise  and  gratitude  pervaded  all 
hearts  for  the  phenomenal  progress  of  the  work.  As 


135 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

has  been  seen  prior  to  this,  no  national  officer  had 
been  engaged  save  at  long  intervals  and  for  a short 
space  to  canvass  the  State  in  the  interest  of  the  cause, 
but  through  the  momentum  gained  by  the  National  Con- 
vention, Mrs.  M.  L.  Wells,  of  Tennessee,  organizer  and 
lecturer  was  put  in  the  field.  Through  her  efforts 
Unions  were  established  at  Greensboro,  White  Plains, 
Perry,  Athens  and  Union  Point.  At  some  places  the 
women  were  so  eager  to  undertake  the  work  that  they 
did  not  wait  for  an  organizer,  but  enlisted  the  most 
sympathetic  element  to  the  temperance  cause  and  or- 
ganized themselves.  The  ministers  were  more  ready  to 
assist  in  the  work  and  open  their  churches  for  the  use  of 
the  organization  than  perhaps  at  any  time  in  the  past. 

At  Meriwether  Station,  Baldwin  County,  where  there 
existed  a strong  temperance  sentiment.  Rev.  J.  J.  Ans- 
ley,  of  the  South  Georgia  Conference,  and  Pastor  of 
the  Baldwin  Circuit,  on  May  17th,  1890,  preached  a 
temperance  sermon  in  Bethel  Church  of  his  charge,  after 
which,  amid  great  enthusiasm,  he  organized  a W.  C. 
T.  U.  with  53  members,  among  them  some  of  the  wisest 
and  truest  workers  that  have  ever  blessed  the  State 
organization.  At  Haddock’s  Station,  in  the  same 
charge  but  located  in  Jones  County,  he  organized  an- 
other historic  Union  of  24  members,  with  Mrs.  L.  E. 
Farriss,  a woman  of  superior  excellence  and  superb 
gifts,  as  president.  The  following  year  the  State  Union 
elected  her  as  Superintendent  of  the  Evangelistic  De- 
partment, which  office  she  filled  with  gracious  results 
to  the  day  of  her  triumphant  death.  These  two  Unions 
have  been  a joy  to  every  State  officer,  since  their  birth. 


136 


History  of  the 

fostered  by  the  Myricks,  Harpers,  Hardemans,  Fin- 
nerys,  and  Normans,  the  latter  sisters  to  Mrs.  Farriss. 
They  enjoy  the  unique  distinction  of  being  the  only  two 
Unions  in  the  State  so  far  as  the  record  shows  up  to 
date,  that  were  organized  by  a minister.  Not  only  on 
the  Baldwin  Circuit  but  at  every  other  place,  the 
founder  of  these  Unions  lent  his  presence,  prayers, 
counsel  and  encouragement  to  the  cause. 

At  the  Convention  in  Thomasville  tw'o  new  depart- 
ments were  adopted, that  of  Temperance  Literature  with 
Mrs.  Isabella  Webb  Parks  as  Superintendent,  and  Medal 
Contest,  wdth  Mrs.  Mary  L.  McLendon  as  Superintend- 
ent, who  from  that  time,  through  twenty  years  has 
served  the  office  not  only  faithfully  and  efTectualh%  but 
with  exceptional  ability.  The  name  of  Mrs.  J.  Jefferson 
Thomas,  one  of  the  most  earnest  workers  of  the  early 
days,  was  also  added  to  the  roster  as  Reporter  for  the 
official  organ,  the  Union  Signal.  The  Treasury’  showed 
an  increase  of  nearly  one  hundred  dollars  over  the  past 
year,  and  a resolution  was  passed  ordering  $20.00  per 
month  paid  from  the  Treasury  to  Miss  M.  H.  Stokes, 
Corresponding  Secretary — the  first  time  in  the  histor\' 
of  the  State  Union  a stipulated  amount  had  been  appro- 
priated from  the  Treasury  to  any  officer. 

The  world  has  not  known  a body  of  more  consecrated 
or  unselfish  laborers  than  these  heroines  of  the  pioneer 
days.  At  this  Convention  the  first  Charter  was  ob- 
tained for  the  Union  through  the  gratuitous  efforts  of 
Hon.  Walter  B.  Hill.*  The  spirit  and  work  of  the 
body  deeply  impressed  the  citizens  of  Thomasville  and 
lent  a stimulus  to  the  local  Union. 


*See  Appendix. 


MRS.  LELLA  A.  DILLARD. 


137 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

At  the  closing  service,  after  an  eloquent  appeal  had 
been  made  to  a large  audience  by  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Lathrop, 
of  Michigan,  who  was  termed  the  “Daniel  Webster  of 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.,”  more  than  one  hundred  signed  the 
total  abstinence  pledge  and  became  members. 

The  year  following  the  work  moved  forward  with 
increasing  strength  and  purpose.  A full  and  earnest 
delegation  attended  the  Annual  Convention  which 
convened  in  the  Methodist  Church  of  Milledgeville, 
Georgia,  May  13-17.  Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin  and  Mrs. 
W.  H.  Felton  were  present  and  spoke  “in  the  power  and 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit.”  The  President’s  Annual 
Message  was  of  such  unusual  interest  as  to  cause  the 
body  to  request  that  it  be  repeated  at  an  evening  hour. 
The  jubilant  notes  of  victory  were  again  sounded  in  the 
Corresponding  Secretary’s  Report.  Gwinnett  County 
had  gone  for  prohibition  by  689  majority.  Gilmer 
and  Cherokee  Counties,  under  the  combined  efforts  of 
the  “three  mile  law”  and  municipal  elections  declared 
for  prohibition,  Whitfield  and  Dooley  Counties  had  also 
scored  signal  victories.  There  was  only  one  sad  note 
in  the  song  of  triumph — Clarke  County,  which  in  1885 
had,  by  a popular  vote  of  1,062  against  492,  gone  for 
prohibition,  this  year  established  a “dispensary”  in  the 
city  of  Athens.  Some  of  the  leading  men  of  thought 
and  action  in  the  State,  deemed  the  “dispensary”  system 
the  solution  of  the  liquor  question — many  of  the  strong- 
est prohibitionists,  among  them  a number  of  preachers, 
were  thus  persuaded.  We  recall  hearing  a Presby- 
terian Minister  at  a Temperance  Mass  Meeting  in 
Greene  County,  in  a speech  favoring  the  “dispensary 


m 


History  of  the 

method”  as  a step  toward  prohibition,  say:  “We  had 
better  take  a half  loaf  than  no  loaf  at  all.”  Thus  it 
was  thought  that  a compromise  with  the  liquor  traffic 
was  essential.  But  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  of  Georgia  from  the  first  gave  no  uncertain 
sound  against  the  subtile  delusion  of  this  monster  evil, 
the  dispensary. 

Among  other  gains,  as  shown  by  the  Annual  Reports, 
was  that  of  Juvenile  Work  under  the  superintendency 
of  Miss  Lily  Reynolds.  Such  excellent  progress  had 
been  made  that  Georgia  stood  second  in  the  contest  for 
the  Juvenile  Banner  at  the  National  Convention  in 
Boston.  Good  work  had  been  done  also  among  the 
colored  people  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  Jennie 
Hart  Sibley  at  Union  Point,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Street  at  Sum- 
merville, and  Mrs.  Mary  Walton  at  Tallapoosa,  a 
colored  Union  having  been  formed  at  each  of  these 
places. 

Many  important  petitions  had  been  circulated  in  the 
interest  of  local  and  national  work,  among  them  the 
petition  for  the  Sunday  closing  of  the  World’s  Fair  at 
Chicago,  and  the  Polyglot  Petition  to  the  Governments 
of  every  country  for  the  abolition  of  liquor  and  opium. 

At  a number  of  Teacher’s  Institutes  in  the  State  and 
the  State  Teachers’  Convention,  representatives  of  the 
organization  spoke  in  interest  of  Temperance  Phj'siologj’ 
asking  for  its  introduction  into  all  schools.  Persistent 
and  united  effort  was  made  to  secure  the  passage  of  a 
Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  Law,  requiring  such 
teaching  in  the  public  schools,  but  was  met  with  defeat 
the  third  time  in  the  Legislature. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  139 

Two  new  Departments  were  adopted,  Social  Purity, 
with  Mrs.  Belle  G.  Abbott  as  Superintendent,  and 
Work  Among  Miners,  with  Mrs.  S.  A.  Kirby  as  Super- 
intendent. Few  changes  were  made  in  the  State 
Officers,  and  only  one  in  the  Official  Board.  Owing 
to  family  affliction,  that  noble  and  devoted  toiler, 
Miss  M.  H.  Stokes,  was  forced  to  resign  and  Mrs.  E.  E. 
Freeman,  of  Cartersville,  was  elected  in  her  stead. 

Just  as  the  Minutes  of  this  Convention  were  published 
and  ready  for  delivery  they  were  destroyed  by  fire  in 
the  Augusta  Chronicle  Building.  While  some  of  the 
matter  could  not  be  replaced,  so  full  are  the  details, 
that  a casual  reader  would  notice  no  omission. 
Another  instance  of  the  faithful,  painstaking  care  of 
these  progenitors  of  Temperance  truth. 

The  Annual  Convention  of  1893,  held  in  the  First 
Baptist  Church,  Macon,  Georgia,  April  25-28,  though 
showing  some  advance  in  the  formation  of  new  Unions 
and  in  the  renewed  zeal  of  those  already  established, 
yet  the  net  gains  for  the  year  fell  far  below  the  gains 
of  the  previous  year. 

After  the  National  Convention  of  1890,  in  Atlanta,  it 
had  been  demonstrated  how  the  women  for  the  two 
succeeding  years  rallied  to  the  cause  and  in  the  last 
year  how  victories  were  won  in  dififerent  counties, 
largely  as  a result  of  earnest  and  united  efforts  of  the 
Union  co-operating  with  the  State  Temperance  Associa- 
tion led  by  Colonel  C.  R.  Pringle.  Some  of  the  strongest 
women  of  the  State  had  been  awakened  to  duty  by  the 
National  Convention  and  came  into  the  Union.  Life 
and  vigor  characterized  every  branch  of  work.  There 


IM  History  of  the 

was  perfect  unanimity  of  thought  and  purpose.  It 
seemed  that  they  had  climbed  the  last  hill  of  difficulty 
and  were  ready  to  move  at  a rapid  pace,  when  a few 
influential  ministers  in  the  Methodist  and  Baptist 
Churches,  began  to  oppose  the  organization  with  a 
violence  which  threatened  its  life.  Rev.  Dr.  McDonald, 
editor  of  the  Christian  Index,  the  official  organ  of  the 
Baptist  Church  of  Georgia,  and  Dr.  J.  B.  Hawthorne, 
pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Atlanta,  published 
articles  attacking  the  teachings  of  Frances  Willard  on 
the  subject  of  woman’s  relation  to  the  ministrj’^  and 
marriage.  They  claimed  that  Miss  Willard  was  “press- 
ing women  into  the  gospel  ministrj%  as  preachers  and 
leaders,  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures;” 
that  she  was  attempting  “to  revolutionize  the  social 
sj^stem  and  contemplating  the  most  thorough  and  radi- 
cal change  in  ancient  or  modern  times;”  “that  the 
principles  set  forth  in  her  Annual  Message  given  at 
Chicago  in  1892,  was  a subversion  of  the  relations  of 
woman  and  marriage.” 

Mrs.  William  C.  Sibley,  President  of  the  Georgia  W. 
C.  T.  U.,  replied  to  these  criticisms.  After  stating  that 
she  did  not  believe  with  Miss  Willard,  “that  women 
should  enter  the  ministry  as  ordained  teachers  of  the 
gospel,”  she  says : “I  do  not  follow  her  leading  in  this 
and  I believe  the  majority  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  are  with 
me,  certainly  those  of  the  South,  but  we  do  not  contend 
with  her  any  more  than  w'e  would  contend  with  you 
for  being  a Baptist.  The  Woman’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union  is  not  sectarian,  there  is  perfect  liberty  and 
freedom  of  thought,  we  are  united  only  on  the  essentials 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


U1 


of  the  organization — that  of  rescuing  humanity  from 
the  drink  curse  and  saving  souls.” 

She  showed  how  Miss  Willard  had  endeavored  to 
glorify  motherhood  and  create  pure  homes  by  teaching 
the  Scriptural  doctrine,  that  no  Christian  should  be 
“unequally  yoked  with  an  unbeliever.”  It  was  made 
clear  that  she  heartily  approved  of  marriage  which 
honored  God  but  opposed  those  where  father  or  mother 
cast  off  Christ  and  the  children  were  left  to  the  world 
and  themselves.  Mrs.  Sibley  sent  her  reply  to  the 
Christian  Index  in  which  Dr.  McDonald’s  article  ap- 
peared. He,  as  editor,  refused  its  publication.  She 
forwarded  it  to  the  Atlanta  Constitution,  where  only  a 
synopsis  was  given.  She  then  mailed  it  to  The  Advance, 
a strong  temperance  paper  edited  by  Mr.  E.  M.  Evans, 
and  containing  a Department  conducted  by  the  Ga.  W. 
C.T.U.  It  was  there  printed  in  full  with  an  editorial  note 
explaining  that  it  had  been  refused  by  the  Christian 
Index  and  given  only  in  part  by  the  Atlanta  Constitu- 
tion. She  replied  also  to  Dr.  J.  B.  Hawthorne  on  the 
same  line  as  did  Mrs.  W.  H.  Felton,  who  was  one  of 
Georgia’s  most  forceful  writers  and  speakers.  These 
attacks  by  two  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Georgia  had  a harmful  effect  upon 
the  Temperance  work  as  represented  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U., 
but  the  action  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference  in  the 
fall  of  1892,  had  still  greater  effect  in  cooling  the  ardor 
of  the  workers  for  the  cause. 

At  the  session  of  the  above  named  Conference  Rev. 
W.  W.  Bays,  of  the  Methodist  Church  of  Rome, 
Georgia,  as  Chairman  of  the  Temperance  Com- 


i42  History  of  the 

mittee,  introduced  a resolution  endorsing  the  work 
of  the  Georgia  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union.  The  resolution  was  opposed  by  Dr.  War- 
ren A.  Candler,  now  Bishop  of  the  Southern  Methodist 
Church,  on  the  ground  that  the  organization  was  con- 
nected with  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  which  approved 
of  woman’s  suffrage.  A heated  debate  followed,  led  in 
the  opposition  by  Dr.  Candler,  and  for  the  “endorse- 
ment” by  Dr.  W.  W.  Wadsworth.  When  the  motion 
was  put  the  Conference  refused  to  pass  the  resolution 
endorsing  the  Union. 

A few  weeks  later  the  Wesleyan  Christian  Advocate, 
the  official  organ  of  the  Georgia  and  Florida  Confer- 
ences, published  numerous  articles  for  and  against 
the  action  of  the  Conference.  Dr.  Candler,  in 
defense  of  his  position,  charged  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  with  using  subtle  efforts  to  indoctrinate  the 
women  of  the  South  in  woman  suffrage,  claiming  that 
though  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  might  now  be  free  as  an 
organization  from  any  such  influence,  and  their  purpose 
as  avowed  only  to  propagate  the  temperance  cause, 
yet  through  the  teachings  of  the  National  organ,  the 
Union  Signal,  and  by  attendance  upon  the  National 
Convention,  listening  to  arguments  made  on  these  oc- 
casions, they  would  gradually  come  to  believe  in  woman 
suffrage  and  seek  it.  Therefore  he  exhorted  the 
Methodist  Church  to  refuse  her  endorsement  and  sym- 
pathy to  the  movement,  unless  the  State  Union  with- 
drew from  the  National.  He  was  seconded  in  his 
opposition  by  Bishop  Atticus  G.  Haygood,  of  the 
Southern  Methodist  Church,  though  he  was  not  so  per- 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  U3 

sistent  or  continuous  in  his  opposition.  Dr.  Candler’s 
articles  were  answered  by  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  State  Presi- 
dent Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Mrs.  Leila  A.  Dillard,  now 
Vice-President  of  the  State  Union,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Felton, 
Mrs.  M.  L.  McLendon,  Professor  Henry  A.  Sconip,  at  that 
time  filling  the  chair  of  ancient  languages  in  Emory 
College,  Oxford,  Georgia,  and  many  others.  In  the 
replies  it  was  shown  that  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and 
every  other  State  Union  connected  with  the  National 
organization  had  the  constitutional  right  to  reject  any 
department  of  work  they  saw  fit  and  were  bound  to  the 
National  only  by  the  total  abstinence  pledge;  that  the 
question  of  woman  suffrage  had  never  been  mentioned 
in  any  of  their  Conventions  and  that  they  had  never 
adopted  the  suffrage  department,  as  a body  having  one 
and  only  one  purpose,  the  overthrow  of  the  liquor 
traffic  and  the  salvation  of  souls.  The  controversy  was 
at  white  heat  when  the  Convention  met  in  the  First 
Baptist  Church,  Macon,  April  25-28,  1893. 

The  eyes  of  the  world  were  looking  on  to  witness  the 
action  of  the  Union  which  had  so  long  been  under 
fire.  In  order  to  show  the  admirable  spirit  of  Mrs. 
William  C.  Sibley,  leader  of  the  State  work,  we  give  a 
paragraph  from  her  Annual  Address  delivered  at  this 
Convention,  bearing  upon  the  question  under  contro- 
versy. After  referring  to  the  difficulties  which  had 
hindered  the  work  during  the  year,  she  says:  “Other 
threatening  shadows  have  crossed  our  path  in  the 
refusal  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference  to  ‘endorse’  us 
because  of  our  connection  with  the  National  Union  and 
its  Woman’s  Suffrage,  and  the  more  recent  opposition 


History  of  the 


of  our  once  staunch  friend  and  helper,  Dr.  Candler,  in 
his  appeal  to  the  Methodist  Church  to  ‘close  its  doors 
against  us  unless  we  withdrew  from  the  National 
Union  and  its  Suffrage  tendency.’  First  let  me  state 
that  the  appeal  for  ‘endorsement’  did  not  come  from  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Georgia.  It  had  nothing  to  do  with  it, 
and  was  surprised  when  it  was  done.  The  good  min- 
ister, Dr.  W.  W.  Bays,  who  offered  the  resolution  may 
have  done  so  at  the  suggestion  of  some  local  member, 
or  simply  to  ‘help  those  women’  who  were  laboring  to 
rescue  perishing  souls.  In  either  case  we  thank  him 
for  his  desire  to  encourage  us  and  will  ever  hold  his 
brotherly  act  in  appreciative  rememberance.  As  to 
‘dissolving’  connection  with  our  Northern  sisters  who 
have  so  long  been  our  comrades  in  arms,  it  is  not  to 
be  thought  of  for  a moment.  The  organization  that 
was  born  of  suffering  and  baptized  with  tears,  that  has 
stood  together  in  unbroken  ranks  through  ^-ears  of 
trial,  difficulties,  opposition,  persecution,  discourage- 
ment and  numerous  defeats  will  neither  be  intimidated 
or  coerced  into  dissolution;  neither  will  it  fall  to  pieces 
voluntarily,  unless  something  more  threatening  and  less 
hopeful  than  woman  suffrage  presents  itself. 

“We  grieve  over  the  disaffection  of  the  grand  body, 
the  North  Georgia  Conference,  that  has  so  long  been  our 
friend  and  helper,  and  shall  miss  its  kindly  good  will 
and  protection,  and  also  deplore  the  withdrawal  of 
Dr.  Candler’s  friendship,  but  feel  assured  that  the  time 
will  come  when  they  will  see  their  mistake.  They 
refuse  to  ‘endorse’  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  but  we  heartih^ 
endorse  them  on  the  step  they  have  taken  to  secure 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  U5 

scientific  temperance  instruction  in  the  public  schools. 
For  eleven  years  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  faithfully, 
prayerfully  and  persistently  appealed  to  the  Legislature 
in  behalf  of  such  a law.  We  congratulate  our  brothers 
upon  this  advanced  step  .against  the  liquor  traffic,  for 
it  is  time  the  Church  of  God  was  doing  something  more 
than  simplypassing  resolutions  of  condemnation  against 
the  great  enemy  of  Christ  and  human  souls.  As  to 
our  connection  with  the  ‘woman  suffrage’  movement 
you  of  this  body  bear  witness  that  the  question  has 
never  been  mentioned  in  our  Conventions,  nor  been 
adopted  as  a part  of  our  work,  and  that  we  are  free 
to  reject  or  adopt  as  we  will.  We  have  hitherto  shunned 
the  very  idea,  to  say  nothing  of  a discussion,  but  as 
by  the  action  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference  and  Dr. 
Candler’s  attacks,  the  question  is  thrust  upon  us  for 
discussion  and  decision,  let  us  pray  God  to  direct, 
hearing  ourselves  in  a way  worthy  of  our  high  calling 
in  Christ  Jesus.” 

This  sectionof  the  President’s  message  was  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  Resolutions  who,  later  in  the  Conven- 
tion, brought  in  the  following  preamble  and  resolution 
which  were  adopted : 

“Whereas,  in  the  minds  of  many  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Georgia  is  regarded  as 
a propagator  of  woman  suffrage,  it  is  due  the  dignity 
of  this  body  and  the  people  of  Georgia,  that  its  position 
be  clearly  defined:  Therefore, 

Resolved,  that  as  a State  organization,  we,  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Georgia,  de- 
clare it  to  be  the  duty  of  this  Convention  to  adopt  only 

(10) 


U6 


History  of  the 


those  principles  espoused  and  plans  devised  by  the 
National  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  that 
are  best  suited  to  the  needs  of  our  Southern  work,  and 
that  while  re-affirming  our  loyalty  to  the  National 
Union,  we  hereby  believe  that  woman  suffrage  is  not 
conducive  to  the  best  interests  of  our  cause  in  Georgia.” 

For  several  weeks  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Con- 
vention articles  pro  and  con  on  the  controverted  point 
were  published  in  the  Wesleyan  Christian  Advocate. 
The  issue  of  May  the  17th  contained  the  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  on  the 
suffrage  question,  together  with  the  following  editorial 
by  its  broad  and  spiritual  editor.  Dr.  W.  F.  Glenn,  of  the 
North  Georgia  Conference.  He  says:  “We  publish 
this  week,  along  with  several  papers  on  the  woman’s 
suffrage  matter,  the  resolutions  passed  by  the  last  W. 
C.  T.  U.  Convention  of  Georgia.  As  will  be  seen  they  do 
not  think  it  wise  to  adopt  the  woman’s  suffrage  feature 
in  their  work.  This  resolution,  if  we  understand  the 
situation,  answers  the  question  raised  by  many,  of 
endorsing  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  The  objection  to  endorsing 
that  organization  was  the  woman’s  rights  element  that 
was  thought  to  be  a part  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  as 
well  as  of  others,  but  as  the  Georgia  Convention  de- 
clares itself  opposed  to  the  features  being  incorporated 
in  the  work  and  puts  itself  on  a ‘legitimate’  line  of  tem- 
perance work,  we  think  their  declaration  should  he 
accepted  and  the  question  put  at  rest.” 

It  was  “put  at  rest”  for  a time  hut  not  until  the 
State  Union  had  received  well-nigh  a death  blow  at  the 
hands  of  three  of  Georgia’s  strongest  preachers  in  the 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


U7 


Baptist  and  Methodist  Churches.  The  powerful  in- 
fluence of  Dr.  Candler  did  more  to  cripple  the  work, 
however,  than  the  combined  attacks  of  Dr.  Hawthorne 
and  Dr.  McDonald,  of  the  Baptist  Church.  The  Method- 
ist Church,  from  the  days  of  Susanna  Wesley,  the 
Mother  of  Methodism,  had  nourished  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance and  encouraged  her  women  to  engage  in  all 
manner  of  good  work.  Not  Frances  Willard  alone,  as 
is  commonly  supposed,  is  responsible  for  the  existence 
of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union.  Back  of 
Frances  Willard’s  golden  deed  was  the  golden  Scrip- 
tural teachings  of  God’s  word  on  the  duty  of  Christian 
women  to  be  ready  for  every  good  word  and  work 
which  she  had  heard  from  childhood  as  taught  by  the 
Methodist  Church. 

Back  of  her  call  to  service  in  this  vast  field  of  unlim- 
ited usefulness,  w^as  the  preaching  from  Methodist  pul- 
pits bidding  all  of  God’s  children  thrust  in  the  sickle 
and  gather  the  harvest  for  Christ.  Her  response  to  the 
call  was  only  the  logical  result  of  Methodist  teaching 
which  had  been  given  her  from  infancy.  She  went 
forth  as  the  leader  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  with  the  bene- 
diction of  the  Methodist  Church  pronounced  upon  her, 
the  Methodist  Church  was  everywhere  open  to  her 
when  other  Christian  Churches  less  sympathetic  to 
woman’s  work  were  closed. 

In  Georgia  the  State  Union  had  been  born  in  a 
Methodist  Church,  six  out  of  ten  of  its  Annual  Conven- 
tions had  been  held  in  Methodist  Churches,  the  Method- 
ist preachers  lending  their  presence,  prayers,  counsel 
and  encouragement.  The  world  knew  these  facts. 


U8 


History  of  the 


Therefore,  when  a few  high  in  authority  and  of  far- 
reaching  influence  in  the  church,  which  had  made  such 
a record,  advised  that  her  doors  he  closed  against  the 
organization  unless  there  was  a withdrawal  from  the 
National  Union,  (which  meant  death  to  the  cause  at 
that  stage  of  its  history),  it  was  but  natural  to  suppose 
that  there  must  be  a strong  compelling  reason  for  such 
opposition.  It  was  an  almost  mortal  wound  in  the 
house  of  its  friends.  After  the  Convention  in  1893 
clearly  stated  that  the  Union  had  no  connection  with 
the  suffrage  movement,  women  feared  to  engage  in  a 
work  which  had  been  even  suspected  of  encouraging  so 
dangerous  an  innovation.  Dr.  Candler  made  a strong 
appeal  to  the  conservatism  of  the  State,  and  those 
who  could  not  have  been  influenced  by  any  other  argu- 
ment, yielded  to  the  pressure  of  opposition  at  this 
point  and  drew  out  of  the  Union  one  by  one,  and  for  the 
same  reason  others  refused  to  come  in,  until  the  State 
work  was  almost  paralyzed. 

The  delegation  to  the  Convention  in  1894,  lacked  only 
two  of  being  reduced  to  one-half  of  that  of  the  previous 
year.  The  State  officers  fought  the  battle  practically 
alone  with  wondrous  faith  and  patience,  enduring  as 
seeing  Him  who  was  invisible,  they  moved  on  slowly 
but  with  steadfast  purpose.  The  lineal  descendants 
of  the  heroic  crusaders  who,  for  love  of  God  and- 
humanity,  knelt  on  the  snow  in  front  of  a barroom 
praying  God  to  convict  its  keeper  and  close  its  doors, 
who  had  been  shut  out  of  Christ’s  Church  and  forced  to 
rent  a hall  in  which  to  hold  their  meetings,  were  not 
to  be  overcome  by  a wave  of  opposition,  though  it  came 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  U9 

from  members  of  its  own  household.  With  faith  which 
is  higher  than  reason,  they  knew  that  somehow  they 
would  be  more  than  conquerors  through  Him  that  loved 
them. 


I 


CHAPTER  X. 


CONVENTION  AT  ROME,  1894 — RESULTS  OF  MINISTERIAL  OPPO- 
SITION— GREAT  PETITION  PRESENTED  TO  LEGISLATURE  FOR 
S.  T.  1.  BILL  WITHOUT  SUCCESS — CONVENTION  AT  SAV.VNNAH 

1895  SMALL  BUT  DETERMINED SPEAKERS,  MISS  KEARNEY, 

MRS.  JENNIE  HART  SIBLEA",  MRS.  MARA"  McGHEE  SNELL 

CONVENTION  OF  1896  AT  BRUNSWICK — MISS  KE.VRNEY 
SPEAKS  GRANDLA" LECTURE  BUREAU  EST.VBLISHED LEC- 

TURES AT  COTTON  STATES  EXPOSITION  IN  ATLANTA  BY  FRAN- 
CES B.  BEAUCHAAIP,  KATHERINE  LENT  STEVHNSON,  HELEN 
AI.  BARKER — DEATH  OF  ATRS.  S.ALLIE  F.  CHAPIN,  THE  “GREAT- 
heart”  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

“The  time  has  come  when  men  of  heart  and  brains 
Must  rise  and  take  the  misdirected  reins  of 
Governments;  too  long  left  in  the  hands  of  laggards. 

He  who  stands  and  sees  the  mighty  vehicle  of  state 
Hauled  through  the  mire  to  some  ignoble  fate. 

And  makes  no  such  bold  protest  as  he  can. 

Is  no  American.” 

The  strenuous  opposition  to  the  State  organization 
from  1892  to  1894,  as  outlined  in  the  foregoing  chapter, 
acted  so  powerfully  upon  the  Avork  that  its  accom- 
plishments were  reduced  to  one-half  that  of  pre- 
Auous  years.  At  the  annual  Convention  held  in  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  Rome,  Georgia,  May  25-28,  1894, 
thirt3"-two  out  of  fiftj'-four  Unions  sent  no  report.  The 
Treasmy  showed  $341.00  against  $590.00  in  1893.  Some 
of  the  Methodist  Churches  had  closed  their  doors  to 
the  Union.  The  Milledge\jlle  local  Union  was  forced 


151 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

to  hold  its  public  meeting  in  the  Court  House  in  Atlanta. 
A Methodist  minister  refused  to  read  the  announcement 
of  a public  meeting  of  the  Union  in  Oxford,  where  the 
opposition  was  perhaps  stronger  than  at  any  point  in 
the  State.  The  announcements  of  the  meetings  of  the 
local  Union  were  not  read  in  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  an  effort  was  made  by  Dr.  Warren  A.  Candler,  at 
that  time  President  of  Emory  College  located  at  Oxford, 
Georgia,  to  induce  the  Oxford  Union  to  secede  from  the 
State  Union,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  State  Union 
decided  to  continue  to  affiliate  with  the  National  Union. 
In  Conyers  the  Methodist  Church  was  refused  for  the 
use  of  the  Fifth  District  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention.  The 
Baptists  at  that  place  having  built  a new  church,  they 
consented  to  allow  the  officers  to  hold  their  meeting  in 
the  old  Baptist  Church  building  which  had  been  closed 
for  some  time. 

Notwithstanding  the  depleted  treasury,  the  thinning 
of  the  ranks  and  lack  of  co-operation  on  the  part  of 
many  of  the  churches,  the  officers  in  charge  of  the 
Annual  Convention  of  1894,  never  displayed  greater 
zeal  or  more  resolute  purpose.  They  were  strength- 
ened by  what  had  been  accomplished.  They  had  lived 
to  see  some  of  the  fruitage  of  their  early  seed  sowing. 
In  1884  they  had  appealed  for  separate  prisons  for  men 
and  women,  and  urged  the  separation  of  juvenile  of- 
fenders from  hardened  criminals;  this  had  been 
granted.  They  had  petitioned  for  the  establishment  of 
a house  of  refuge  for  penitent  fallen  women,  and  while 
the  State  Legislature,  to  whom  the  prayer  had  been 
made,  refused  to  make  the  appropriation,  yet  the  aggi- 


152 


History  of  the 

tation  caused  an  arrest  of  thought  which  resulted  in 
private  homes  for  the  purpose  being  founded  in  differ- 
ent cities,  notably  in  Augusta  where  incalculable  good 
had  been  done.  For  eleven  years  they  had  been  plead- 
ing for  the  passage  of  a Scientific  Temperance  Instruc- 
tion Law  in  Georgia,  and  though  the  petition  had  been 
repeatedly  refused  by  the  Legislature,  at  last  the  strong 
men  of  Georgia  had  taken  it  up  and  were  pressing  its 
claim.  The  very  body — the  North  Georgia  Conference 
■ — which  refused  their  endorsement  to  the  State  Union 
the  year  previous,  passed  resolutions  pledging  them- 
selves to  united  effort  in  behalf  of  the  law.  If  the  work 
they  had  originated,  and  for  which  they  had  labored 
twelve  years,  was  coming  to  be  recognized  as  essential 
by  voters  of  the  commonwealth,  what  need  for  discour- 
agement? They  had  come  to  establish  the  truth  on 
alcoholic  and  other  humanitarian  questions  and  did 
not  expect  to  fail  until  they  had  set  judgment  in  the 
earth.  Not  a note  of  fear  or  unbelief  was  sounded  at 
the  Convention. 

The  District  Presidents,  which  had,  since  1888, 
been  a strong  arm  of  the  work,  planned  more 
definitely  than  ever  in  the  past.  It  was  resolved  that 
they  be  empowered  to  appoint  County  Presidents,  each 
to  organize  her  county  and  report  quarterly  to  the  Dis- 
trict Presidents.  More  strenuous  efforts  were  to  be  put 
forth  in  securing  a Scientific  Temperance  Instruction 
Law.  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt,  founder  of  Scientific  Instruc- 
fion  in  fhe  public  schools,  was  to  be  engaged  to  address 
the  Legislature  on  the  merits  of  the  measure.  Mrs. 
Mary  L.  McLendon,  who  was  placed  in  charge  of  this 


MRS.  JENNIE  HART  SIBLEY,  OF  UNION  POINT, 
Second  President  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


153 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

feature  of  the  work,  was  directed  to  send  out  petition^ 
to  be  signed  by  the  voters  of  Georgia,  as  well  as  the 
women  and  children,  asking  that  such  a law  be  enacted. 
As  a result  of  this  concentrated  effort,  in  November  of 
1894,  a petition  six  yards  in  length  was  presented  to  the 
Legislature,  but  the  fourth  time  met  refusal.  However, 
a promise  was  given  that  it  would  be  considered  at  the 
next  session. 

At  the  Annual  Convention  of  1895,  held  in  the  Sunday 
School  room  of  Trinity  Methodist  Church,  Savannah, 
Georgia,  April  25-28,  there  were  only  thirteen  Unions 
represented,  but  the  delegation  was  composed  of  an 
invincible  corps  of  workers  who  were  like  the  drum 
beater  in  Napoleon’s  army  under  defeat,  when  com- 
manded by  Napoleon  to  beat  a retreat  said:  “1  know 
no  retreat,  you  have  taught  me  to  beat  only  a charge.” 
Though  small  in  number  and  over-ridden  by  opposition, 
yet  they  were  at  their  post  to  charge  the  enemy,  the  great 
Captain  of  their  salvation  had  taught  them  no  retreat. 
A mental  picture  of  glorious  inspiration  rises  before 
us  as  we  recall  that  heroic  band.  We  see  Mrs.  William 
C.  Sibley,  the  incarnation  of  conquering  faith,  her  noble 
brow  crowned  with  a wealth  of  silver  hair  hastened  to 
its  beautiful  whiteness,  through  suffering  for  God.  At 
her  side  Mrs.  Walter  B.  Hill,  with  a patriotic  fire  equal 
to  Patrick  Henry,  demanded  freedom  from  the  liquor 
traffic  ere  America  be  called  the  land  of  the  free  and 
the  home  of  the  brave;  the  gentle  saint,  Mrs,  M.  S.  A. 
Webb,  whose  very  presence  inspired  hope;  and  that 
marvelous  woman,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Street,  who  fought  the 
enemy  to  his  death  wherever  she  made  an  attack. 


^54  History  of  the 

spending  in  one  year  $114.00,  to  further  the  cause  in 
her  home  town,  Summerville;  and  the  intrepid 
Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  whom  God  had  called  in  the  stillness 
of  the  night  while  the  waves  of  anguish  swept  over  her 
soul  to  come  forward  and  stand  in  the  breach,  and  who 
became,  two  years  later,  as  will  be  seen,  the  restorer  of 
paths  for  men  to  dwell  in;  the  faithful  Mrs.  Sarah  J. 
Blanchard,  Mrs.  C.  H.  Smith,  Mrs.  S.  S.  Bouchelle,  Mrs. 
J.  A.  Thomas,  Mrs.  S.  P.  Harvey,  Mrs.  J.  T.  Norris,  Mrs. 
M.  C.  Bowe,  Mrs.  John  S.  Moore,  then  elected  State 
Treasurer,  and  many  others,  whose  names  are  written  in 
the  Book  of  Life.  The  very  heavens  bend  in  blessings 
over  their  record  to-day.  Eight  years  before  they  had, 
in  this  same  city,  rented  the  Masonic  Temple  in  which 
they  held  their  Fifth  Annual  Convention,  now  they 
came  to  Christ’s  Church,  greeted  by  many  of  His  serv- 
ants. 

Two  of  the  strongest  women  of  the  South,  Mrs.  Marj' 
McGhee  Snell  and  Miss  Belle  Kearney,  of  Mississippi, 
were  present  to  aid  in  this  Convention.  A letter  of 
greeting  from  Bev.  A.  J.  Hughes,  the  wise  counselor  and 
encourager  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  its  dark  hours, 
was  received,  also  an  invitation  from  Hon.  Walter  B. 
Hill,  Chairman  of  the  Anti-Barroom  Committee,  who 
had  called  a Convention  to  meet  in  Athens,  Georgia,  the 
8th  of  May,  asking  that  delegates  be  sent  from  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  Among  the  notable  features  of  the  Convention, 
was  an  eloquent  address  delivered  on  Sunday’  after- 
noon by  Miss  Belle  Kearney  on  “The  Besponsihility  of 
Christian  Men  to  Prohibition,  or  How  Will  Your  Hands 
Look  in  the  Search  Light?”  At  the  evening  hour  Mrs. 


155 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Snell  gave  an  earnest  Gospel  address,  which  thoroughly 
aroused  her  great  audience. 

But  perhaps  the  most  substantial  encouragement 
came  to  the  workers  of  this  Convention  through  a re- 
view of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  from  its  organization  in  1874, 
by  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley.  She  pointed  out  that 
among  other  achievements  the  Age  of  Consent  had  been 
raised  in  all  English  speaking  countries  from  ten  to 
fourteen  years,  the  children  of  the  public  schools  in 
every  State  in  the  Nation,  save  three,  (Georgia  being 
one  out  of  that  number),  had  been  required  to  be 
taught  the  evil  effects  of  alcohol  and  other  narcotics 
upon  the  human  system.  The  International  Sunday 
School  Association  had,  through  the  appeal  of  Miss  Wil- 
lard, provided  quarterly  temperance  lessons  to  be 
taught  regularly  in  the  Sunday  Schools.  A National 
Temperance  Hospital  had  been  founded  where  it  had 
been  demonstrated  that  alcohol  was  unnecessary  in  the 
treatment  of  disease.  Through  the  education  of  public 
sentiment  total  abstinence  had  become  to  be  so  respect- 
ed that  the  wine  glass  was  rejected  at  the  highest  social 
functions.  Secretary  Carlisle,  having  only  a few  days 
previous  given  a dinner  to  President  Cleveland,  at 
which  not  a drop  of  intoxicating  beverages  was  served. 

No  distinctive  line  of  work  was  undertaken  except  a 
more  persistent  effort,  if  possible,  was  to  be  made  in 
behalf  of  the  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  Law, 
and  a pledge  to  heartily  co-operate  with  the  men  in 
laboring  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  “Anti-Barroom 
Bill.”  A few  changes  were  made  in  the  State  officers. 
Miss  Emmie  Stewart,  of  Oxford,  Georgia,  who,  for 


156 


History  of  the 

eleven  years  served  the  organization  faithfully  and 
effectively  as  Recording  Secretary,  resigned  and  Miss 
Lily  Reynolds,  of  Lithia  Springs,  was  elected  in  her 
stead.  Mrs.  Maggie  W.  Scomp,  President  of  the  Oxford 
Union  since  its  organization  in  1882,  and  for  seven  years 
Superintendent  of  the  important  Department  of  Scien- 
tific Temperance  Insf ruction,  also  resigned,  on  account 
of  her  husband’s  removal  from  Oxford,  where  he  had 
for  many  years  filled  the  Chair  of  Greek  with  marked 
distinction.  He  wrought  one  of  the  most  enduring  and 
far-reaching  works  among  the  student  body  of  Emory' 
College,  as  well  as  becoming  one  of  the  central  figures 
in  the  prohibition  movement  of  Newton  County'. 

Mrs.  Scomp’s  place  was  filled  by  Mrs.  Margaret 
Chandler,  of  Atlanta.  The  Departments  of  Relative 
Statistics  and  Flower  Mission  were  dropped  and  that 
of  Press  Work  taken  up,  with  Mrs.  J.  T.  Norris  as 
Superintendent. 

At  the  closing  of  the  year  of  1895,  the  opposition 
which  had  caused  the  Union  to  suffer  to  so  large  an 
extent  in  numbers  and  enthusiasm,  began  to  subside  to 
some  degree.  The  hand  of  good  will,  at  least  in  a few 
places,  was  extended,  and  the  officers  thanked  God  and 
took  courage.  Brunswick  had  invited  the  Annual  Con- 
vention for  1896  and  when  it  convened  there  in  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  a welcome  of  unusual  warmth 
was  given.  The  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  State 
Union,  had  the  Mayor  of  any  city  greeted  them  in 
person.  Mayor  Dunwoody  not  only  delivered  the  wel- 
come in  behalf  of  the  City',  but  pronounced  a glowing 
eulogy'  upon  the  work  of  the  organization.  When  the 


157 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Committee  on  Invitation  was  tendered  the  Baptist 
Church  for  the  use  of  the  Convention,  a young  man  of 
that  church  remarked  that  he  wanted  the  motherhood 
of  Georgia  to  have  his  church  and  do  as  they  wished. 
This  beautiful  chivalric  statement,  repeated  from  the 
platform  in  open  Convention,  by  Mrs.  M.  C.  Rowe,  Pres- 
ident of  the  local  Union,  was  received  with  applause 
and  the  Chautauqua  salute.  The  delegates  were  given 
a drive  by  the  citizens  around  the  Boulevard,  and  im- 
mediately after  adjournment  were  tendered  a trip  to 
St.  Simon’s  Island. 

One  of  the  South’s  most  brilliant  daughters. 
Miss  Belie  Kearney,  of  Mississippi,  was  present  to 
aid  b}’^  public  appeal  and  private  counsel.  At  an 
evening  hour  she  gave  a notable  address  on  “Why  Are 
the  Wheels  Clogged,”  which  called  forth  the  highest 
commendation  from  the  Brunswick  Times-Aduertiser. 
Notwithstanding  the  effect  of  the  wave  of  opposition  on 
the  State  work,  only  seven  Unions  sending  reports 
against  sixteen  for  1895,  thirty-two  for  1894  and  forty- 
six  for  1892,  when  the  opposition  began,  yet  there  was 
never  greater  zeal  displayed  or  more  determination 
evidenced  by  the  officers  to  go  forward.  The  motto 
suggested  by  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley  and  adopted  for 
the  year  was  Exodus  14:15,  “Speak  unto  the  Children  of 
Isreal  that  they  go  forward.”  God  used  Belle  Kearney 
as  His  chosen  vessel  to  speak  with  a tongue  of  fire, 
both  to  the  Convention  and  to  the  people  at  large.  It  is 
a fact  worthy  of  note  that  as  Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin,  the 
golden  hearted  heroine  of  the  Southern  Woman’s  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union,  was  laid  aside  by  enfeebled 


158 


History  of  the 

health  and  could  go  no  more  out  to  proclaim  the  gospel 
of  purity  and  prohibition,  this  wonderful  crown  jewel 
in  the  Father’s  Kingdom — Belle  Kearney,  of  Mississippi 
— was  raised  up  to  take  her  place  to  aid  the  hosts  of 
Israel  in  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  The  Convention 
bears  the  marks  of  her  convictions. 

The  plan  of  work  and  resolutions,  of  which 
she  was  chairman,  has  the  ring  of  marching  orders. 
Three  new  departments  were  taken  up — The  Depart- 
ment of  Young  Woman’s  Work,  with  Mrs.  Jennie 
Hart  Sibley  as  Superintendent,  the  Department 
of  Parliamentary  Law,  with  Mrs.  H.  E.  Smith  as 
Superintendent,  and  the  Department  of  Parlor 
Meetings,  with  Mrs.  E.  T.  Bartlett  as  Superintendent.  A 
Lecture  Bureau  was  also  established  with  Mrs.  W.  C. 
Sibley,  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley  and  Mrs.  J.  A.  Thomas 
as  Directors,  their  duty  being  to  secure  speakers  and 
organizers  to  develop  State  work  and  mark  out  the 
campaigns  of  these  speakers  and  organizers.  It  was 
resolved  to  again  urge  the  passage  of  a Scientific  Tem- 
perance Instruction  Law,  Georgia  being  at  this  time  one 
of  only  two  States  that  had  refused  to  enact  such  a 
measure.  It  was  thought  that  for  the  shame  of  such  a 
reproach,  if  for  no  other  reason,  the  Legislature  might 
grant  their  petition.  Co-operation  was  also  pledged 
the  Georgia  prohibitionists  to  use  every  available  means 
of  pressing  to  passage  the  Anti-Barroom  Bill.  Another 
advanced  step  was  taken  in  the  election  of  Mrs.  Walter 
B.  Hill  as  editor  of  The  Motive. 

Though  only  seven  Unions  reported  at  this  Convene 
tion,  much  excellent  work  had  been  accomplished. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  159 

notably  through  the  Atlanta  Unions.  Large  quantities 
of  Literature  had  been  distributed  at  the  Cotton 
States  and  International  Exposition  in  Atlanta,  sent 
from  almost  every  point  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada  by  representatives  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Mrs.  H. 
M.  Tripp  had  been  paid  $25.00  per  month  to  care  for  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  exhibit  in  the  Woman’s  Building.  The 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Exposition  had  been  peti- 
tioned to  forbid  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  on  the 
Exposition  Grounds.  Only  one  vote,  however,  was  cast 
for  its  exclusion,  that  of  Hon.  W.  A.  Hemphill,  who  was 
one  of  the  truest  and  bravest  champions  of  prohibition 
Georgia  ever  produced.  During  the  three  and  one-half 
months  of  the  Exposition  many  temperance  addresses 
were  given  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  Woman’s  Build- 
ing, under  the  auspices  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Among  the 
speakers  were  Mrs.  Frances  B.  Beauchamp,  of  Kentucky, 
Mrs.  Katherine  Lent  Stevenson,  Mrs.  Josephine  R. 
Nicholson,  Mrs.  Mary  Frost  Ormsby  and  Mrs.  Helen  M. 
Barker.  At  these  meetings  collections  were  taken  for 
the  cause  and  many  members  were  obtained.  The  far- 
reaching  results  of  these  notable  addresses  cannot  be 
estimated,  as  they  were  heard  by  men  and  women 
from  every  state  in  the  nation  and  hy  hundreds  of 
young  people  who  had  never  before  had  a thought  on 
their  relation  to  the  temperance  cause. 

This  Convention  was  made  memorable,  not  only  by 
the  cordial  welcome  given  at  Brunswick  and  the  im- 
petus received  for  more  strenuous  endeavors,  but  for 
the  shadow  which  fell  upon  the  body  in  the  death  of 
Sallie  Flournoy  Chapin.  On  April  19th,  just  prior  to 


160 


History  of  the 

the  Convention,  her  eloquent  tongue  was  stilled  forever. 
Serenely  pure,  divinely  strong,  she  poured  the  full  tide  of 
her  marvelous  oratory  into  the  channels  of  the  Georgia 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  for  eleven  con- 
secutive years.  Is  there  wonder  that  her  comrades 
were  silent  before  God  in  recognition  of  their  loss?  He 
only,  understood  what  she  meant  to  the  organization. 
Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  her  faithful  and  devoted  friend,  told 
with  beautiful  tenderness  at  the  memorial  hour,  how 
South  Carolina  honored  her  matchless  daughter  and  of 
how  Georgia  was  bereaved.  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley 
moved  that  a fitting  monument  be  erected  by  the  South- 
ern States  in  memory  of  Mrs.  Chapin,  and  that  Georgia 
take  the  initiative  by  appointing  a committee  to  cor- 
respond with  officers  of  various  states  in  the  South, 
inviting  their  aid  and  determining  what  form  the  move- 
ment should  assume.  Mrs.  Sibley,  as  the  friend  of  Mrs. 
Chapin  and  the  mover  of  the  resolution,  was  placed 
in  charge  of  this  duty.  With  what  diligence,  devotion 
and  delicacy  she  performed  it  will  be  shown  in  the 
next  chapter. 


For  God  and  Horne  and  Every  Land. 


PRESiDEtJr ; 

Mies  rnANCCs  c.  willard, 

Evanston,  111.,  U.S.A. 
VICE-PRESIDENT  .\T  LARGE; 
LADY  HENRY  SOMERSET. 

The  Priory.  Relgaie,  England. 
HONORARY  VICE-PRESIDENTS: 
MRS.  MARY  CLEMENT  LEAVITT. 
Care  Messrs.  Kidder.  Peabody  & Co.. 
Boston,  Mass. 

MI88  JESSIE  A.  ACKERMANN. 
C/0  Albany  Buildines,  47,  Victoria 
St..  London.  S.  w.,  England. 
MR8.  ELIZABETH  WHEELER 
ANDREW, 

Evanston.  III.,  U.S.A. 

OR.  KATE  C.  euSHNELL. 
Evanston,  111..  U.S.A. 

MISS  ALICE  R.  PALMER. 
Franklin,  Indiana.  U.S.A. 

"*  MOTHER  ••  STEWART. 
Springfield,  Ohio. 

MRS.  LETITIA  YOUMANS. 

19,  Metcalfe  Street.  Toronto,  Canada 
HON.  SECRETARY: 

MI58  ACNES  E.  SLACK. 
Ripley,  Derbyshire,  England. 
HON.  ASSISTANT  SECRETARY: 
MISB  ANNA  A.  GORDON, 
Evanston.  III.,  U.S.A. 
TREASURER: 

MRS.  MARY  E.  SANDERSON. 

Danville,  Quebec,  Canada. 


WORLD'S 

Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union. 


TIME  OF  PRAYER.— Noontide.  BADGE— A Knot  of  While  Ribbon. 

METHODS — Preventive,  Educational.  Evangelistic,  SoMal  and  Legal.  WATCHWORDS— Agitate,  Educate.  Organite. 

OBJECT — To  unify  throughout  the  v/orld  the  work  of  Women  in  Temperance  and  Social  Reform,  and  to  seek,  through  the  circulation  and 
presentation  of  a Petition  addressed  to  all  the  Governments  of  the  world,  the  complete  overthrow  of  the  Alcohol  and  Opium  trades. 


OFFICE  OF  PRESIDENT. 


^ ^ 


jU^) 


.^^CCC 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  CHAPIN  MONUMENT — HOW  OBTAINED — FRANCES  WIL- 
LARD’s  TRIBUTE — WHAT  MRS.  CHAPIN  DID  FOR  A GEORGIA 
VILLAGE. 

She  bore  herself  beyond  the  promise  of  her  age;  doing 
in  the  figure  of  a lamb  the  feats  of  a lion. 

— “Much  Ado  about  Nothing,”  Act  I,  Scene  I. 

As  has  been  seen  through  the  record  given  in  the  Four- 
teenth Annual  Convention  at  Brunswick,  Georgia,  Mrs. 
Jennie  Hart  Sibley  was  appointed  to  direct  the  move- 
ment looking  to  the  commemoration  in  some  worthy 
way  of  the  life  and  labor  of  the  South’s  great  chieftain 
in  Woman’s  Temperance  work,  Mrs.  Sallie  Flournoy 
Chapin.  Mrs.  Sibley  undertook  the  enterprise  with 
characteristic  zeal  and  delicacy,  sent  circular  letters 
to  every  State  President  in  the  South,  as  well  as  the 
National  officers,  inviting  suggestions  and  co-operation 
touching  the  form  the  memorial  should  assume  and  aid 
in  executing  whatever  plan  might  be  adopted.  Various 
propositions  were  made.  Some  preferred  a school  of 
methods,  others  a hospital.  Miss  Willard  suggested  a 
lectureship,  Mrs.  Sibley  herself  leaned  to  founding  a 
living  memorial,  believing  it  would  more  perfectly  ex- 
press the  spirit  of  Mrs.  Chapin’s  character,  which 
through  all  the  years  had  demonstrated  a lofty  type  of 
self-renunciation.  After  a long  and  extensive  corre- 
(11) 


162 


History  of  the 

spondence  it  was  resolved  to  erect  a monument  on  her 
grave  in  Magnolia  Cemetery,  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, in  which  not  only  the  Southern  States  but  the 
National  organization  should  share.  In  pursuance  of 
this  resolve,  Mrs.  Sibley,  who  had  been  appointed  by 
the  National  as  well  as  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  to 
execute  the  plan,  conferred  with  Mr.  George  Williams, 
of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  the  life-long  friend  of 
Mrs.  Chapin,  and  they  together  had  the  monument 
designed,  bearing  the  following  inscription : 

SALLIE  F.  CHAPIN, 

Born  March  14th,  1830, 

Died  April  19th,  1896. 


Erected  by  Her  Sisters  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

This  was  placed  at  the  head  of  her  gi'ave  and  pro- 
vision made  for  its  perpetual  care.  A tangible  token  of 
appreciation  from  Georgia  or  the  South  alone  would  not 
have  expressed  the  catholicity  of  Spirit  which  charac- 
terized Mrs.  Chapin.  Her  love  could  not  be  bounded 
by  sections.  Every  state  in  the  nation  felt  the  pulse 
beat  of  her  loyal  heart.  It  is  no  wonder,  therefore, 
that  the  Southern  States  were  asked  by  their  sister  states 
of  the  North  for  the  privilege  of  sharing  in  this  tribute 
to  her  worth.  She  was  as  dear  to  the  National  officers 
as  any  of  their  clime;  and  perhaps  no  pen  has  so  fully 
and  truly  interpreted  her  life  as  that  of  Frances  Willard. 
Because  of  the  co-relative  elements  in  their  characters, 
the  divine  ideals  actuating  their  motives,  the  complete 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  163 

response  of  one  to  the  other,  Miss  Willard  was  able  to 
lay  before  the  world  a most  graphic  view  of  her  pre- 
eminent co-laborer.  We  give  her  letter  published  in 
the  Union  Signal,  written  from  Reigate,  England, 
whither  she  had  gone  to  aid  in  the  British  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union.  She  says: 

“In  1881,  accompanied  by  Anna  Gordon  and  her 
sister,  Bessie,  I set  out  for  the  South.  We  were  pre- 
ceded in  Charleston  by  Mrs.  George  Hulse  McLeod,  of 
Baltimore,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Maryland 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Mrs.  McLeod  had,  I think,  met  Mrs.  Chapin 
and  had  told  us  much  of  her  remarkable  talents  and 
reputation  among  the  Southern  people.  We  knew  that 
she  had  v/ritten  a book  entitled:  ‘Fitzhugh  St.  Clair,’  a 
story  of  the  Southern  Confederacy;  that  she  had  been 
prominent  in  work  for  the  Southern  soldiers,  being  born 
and  bred  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  where  the  Civil 
War  began,  and  she  was  for  that  reason  and  for  many 
more  one  of  the  central  figures  among  Southern  women 

“On  reaching  Charleston  we  went  directly  to  her 
home,  which  bore  the  unmistakable  tokens  of  culture 
and  intellectuality.  A large  ivy  vine  from  a cutting 
obtained  at  Netley  Abbey,  when  Mrs.  Chapin  and  her 
husband  were  abroad,  had  grown  over  the  gable.  In 
the  library  the  favorite  chair  of  William  Gilmore 
Sims,  the  novelist,  was  pointed  out  to  us.  He  was  a 
near  friend  of  the  family.  Books,  pictures,  manu- 
scripts, betokened  the  refined  taste  of  our  hostess,  and 
she  had  assembled  to  greet  us.  Bishop  Stevens,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Vedder,  pastor  of  the  famous  Huguenot  Church, 
and  his  accomplished  wife,  with  many  other  leading 


leif 


History  of  the 


men  and  women  of  the  city,  whose  names  stood  for 
what  was  best  in  the  church  and  school  and  home,  those 
three  centers  of  light  and  life. 

“We  had  been  told  that  the  brilliant  conversational 
gift  of  Mrs.  Chapin  made  her  a sort  of  Southern  ‘Gail 
Hamilton,’  the  correctness  of  the  description  was 
quickly  realized.  One  rarely  comes  in  contact  with  an 
intellect  so  brilliant  and  at  the  same  time  so  s^^mpa- 
thetic  as  Mrs.  Chapin’s.  She  rejoiced  to  give  forth  the 
stores  of  knowledge,  experience,  wit  and  repartee,  with 
which  nature  and  life  had  endowed  her.  She  was  not 
at  all  an  egotist  or  a monopolist,  but  plaj^ed  the  con- 
versational game  of  ‘give  and  take’  with  charming  skill. 
Concerning  that  dinner,  1 have  often  thought  of  Dr.  Sam 
Johnson’s  phrase,  ‘Sir,  we  had  good  talk.’  It  was  for- 
tunate for  us  that  Mrs.  Chapin  possessed  great  social 
tact,  for  conservative  Charleston  had  by  no  means  made 
up  its  mind  to  tolerate  ‘women  who  spoke.’  She  had  the 
good  sense  to  be  in  friendly  relations  with  the  Press,  and 
accounts  of  this  dinner  paved  the  way  for  the  meeting 
that  came  a little  later  and  which  was  held  in  the  hand- 
somest hall  in  the  city.  Mrs.  Chapin  had  it  presided 
over  by  Bishop  Stevens,  and  the  platform  was  studded 
by  the  presence  of  the  kind  friends  whom  we  had  met 
at  the  notable  dinner  aforesaid.  Thus  it  came  about 
that  when  we  were  ready  to  organize  a local  W.  C.  T.  U. 
we  were  not  left  lamenting,  but  had  a following  of  good 
women  who  were  willing  to  join,  and  from  that  day 
until  the  19th  of  April,  1896,  when  her  brave  spirit  went 
forth  to  another  sphere,  Mrs.  Chapin  was  President  of 
that  local  Union,  and  of  the  Union  of  South  Carolina, 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


165 


and  for  many  years  indeed  until  each  state  had  formed 
a separate  society  largely  as  a result  of  her  own  work. 
She  was  the  Southern  Superintendent  of  the  National 

W.  C.  T.  U. 

“The  next  autumn  these  same  Southern  States,  which 
had  hardly  furnished  a delegate  up  to  that  time,  were 
well  represented  at  the  Convention  in  Washington 
which  was  held  in  the  capital,  that  it  might  be  more 
convenient  for  this  new  and  coveted  contingent  of  the 
White  Ribbon  work. 

“The  address  made  by  Mrs.  Chapin  in  Washington 
and  the  original  poem,  with  which  it  closed,  formed 
one  of  the  most  striking  historic  epochs,  not  only  in  the 
Woman’s  Temperance  work,  but  in  the  great  reconcil- 
iation between  the  North  and  the  South,  to  which  our 
movement  gave  the  first  impetus  among  women.  Up  to 
that  time,  so  far  as  1 have  ever  heard,  no  Southern  lady 
had  either  written  or  spoken  in  public,  urging  that  the 
ties  must  be  reknit  between  the  severed  sections.  Until 
women  willed  it,  this  could  not  be  done,  no  matter  how 
statesmen  might  desire  it,  or  how  much  soldiers  might 
fraternize.  But  here  was  one  of  the  most  gifted  and 
representative  of  Southern  women  from  the  most  char- 
acteristic of  Southern  States,  one,  who  had  already  in 
her  own  home,  welcomed  her  Northern  abolition  sisters 
of  New  England,  and  reached  out  the  hand  of  love  and 
faith  to  the  President  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  who 
had  as  warmly  grasped  it,  indeed  who  had  gone  to  her 
native  city  to  seek  her  friendship  and  co-operation. 
No  woman  who  was  present  will  ever  forget  the  impres- 
sion made  by  Mrs.  Chapin’s  speech.  She  stood  before 


166 


History  of  the 

us  tall  and  stately  in  her  black  robes  and  insignia  of 
widowhood, her  intellectualcountenance  glowing  as  that 
flashing  eye  took  in  the  great  assembly.  She  had  per- 
haps not  spoken  in  public  before,  but  she  brought  to  the 
memorable  occasion  that  happy  furnishing  of  social 
experience  which  puts  Southern  women,  who  under- 
take to  speak  upon  a vantage  ground.  Her  voice  was 
deep  and  sonorous,  her  elocution  perfect;  her  whole 
great  heart  was  in  the  theme;  she  had  come  to  her  hour 
and  she  knew  it.  Mrs.  Chapin  took  our  new  departure, 
the  adoption  of  woman  suffrage  bj'  the  National,  in  her 
own  bright,  cheery  way,  never  coming  out  in  a radical 
spirit,  and  j^et  alwaj^s  winsomelj^  approving  what  we 
did.  I can  hear  George  Rain’s  voice  ringing  out  in  the 
‘Home  Protection  Convention’  in  Chicago  in  1882,  when 
he  named  Mrs.  Chapin  as  a member  of  the  National 
Committee  ‘because  she  was  a representative  woman 
of  the  South  where  she  was  greatly  loved  and  trusted.’ 
While  she  was  at  heart  a most  progressive  woman  she 
never  lost  the  sympathy  of  the  conservative  people  in 
her  native  city.  They  loved  her  and  were  proud  of  her 
as  they  had  every  reason  to  be;  she  was  always  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  Press  of  her  State,  and  with  its  forward 
movements,  although  they  might  not  be  altogether  ac- 
cording to  our  program.  It  is  said  that  the  Scientific 
Education  Bill,  the  Industrial  Home  for  Girls,  and  the 
Purity  Legislation  in  South  Carolina,  were  the  outcome 
of  her  influence  and  work.  She  was  last  with  us  at  our 
Convention  in  Boston  in  1891.  Because  of  her  remark- 
able gifts  of  speech,  she  was  perhaps  more  frequently 
invited  to  respond  to  the  address  of  welcome  at  these 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


167 


great  ‘Harvest  Homes’  than  any  other  one  woman;  and 
all  of  the  frequenters  of  our  National  Convention  will 
remember  with  what  wit  and  charm  she  was  wont  to 
speak  on  behalf  of  her  beloved  South,  to  which  every 
drop  of  her  blood  was  loyal.  Though  often  urged  by 
ministers  of  good  intentions  in  her  part  of  the  world  to 
separate  herself  from  the  parent  society  and  to  lead  the 
Southern  women  by  themselves,  she  always  stood  firm 
and  true  to  the  National,  and  I earnestly  hope  that  we 
shall  be  not  only  willing  without  one  dissenting  voice, 
but  able  to  place  a tablet  to  her  heroic  and  sacred 
memory  in  that  hall  of  Woman’s  Temple  which  is  verit- 
ably becoming  the  Westminster  Abbey  of  Temperance 
Reform.” 

This  fervent  utterance  from  perhaps  the  greatest 
woman  America  has  produced,  is  but  an  expression 
of  ten  thousand  hearts  from  every  part  of  the  nation 
who  sat  under  the  inspiration  of  Mrs.  Chapin’s  elo- 
quence. The  fiery  sweep  of  her  oratory  and  the  pro- 
found depth  of  her  compassion,  was  as  irresistible  as  an 
incoming  tide.  A characteristic  instance  of  her 
sympathy  and  powerful  appeal  to  the  consciences  of  men 
is  brought  out  in  a bit  of  history  connected  with  the 
Second  Annual  Convention  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in 
Augusta,  Georgia.  Mrs.  Chapin  was  being  entertained 
with  two  young  ladies  and  some  others  in  the  hospitable 
and  elegant  home  of  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley.  The  young 
ladies,  who  were  attending  their  first  Convention,  were 
taken,  not  only  into  the  home  but  into  the  heart  of  Mrs. 
Sibley  and  her  distinguished  guest.  They  had  come 
from  a rum-ridden  village  where  the  saloon  keeper. 


168 


History  of  the 

by  his  strong  influence  over  the  young  men  and  boys 
was  leading  them  to  ruin.  Public  sentiment  on  the 
temperance  question  was  so  low  as  not  to  condemn  the 
saloon  keeper  and  it  seemed  that  nothing  could  be  done 
to  stay  the  ravages  of  the  saloon’s  destructive  power. 
These  young  girls  who  had  been  trained  by  Christian 
parents  to  abhor  the  saloon  and  its  work  of  iniquity, 
pledged  each  other  to  battle  alone  rather  than  sit  still 
and  witness  the  ruin  of  their  friends.  Receiving  en- 
couragement in  their  homes  they  organized  a temper- 
ance society,  few  in  number  but  strong  in  purpose. 
The  way  was  opened  for  them  to  attend  the  Convention 
aforementioned.  They  were  going  for  inspiration,  in- 
formation and  especially  in  the  hope  of  securing  some 
state  or  national  officer  to  come  to  their  aid  by  speaking 
in  their  town  for  Temperance.  As  one  of  them  told  of 
their  struggle  against  opposition,  which  at  times 
amounted  to  persecution,  and  how  they  had  prayed 
that  God  w'ould  put  it  into  the  heart  of  a strong  woman 
in  the  work  to  rally  to  them,  Mrs.  Chapin,  scarcelj’^ 
waiting  until  the  story  was  finished,  said,  “Go  and  tele- 
graph your  parents  I will  come  and  speak  for  you  and 
God.  You  two  brave  girls  shall  have  the  strongest 
effort  of  my  life.”  The  wires  flashed  the  news  that  this 
great  servant  of  Christ  was  coming  and  advertised  her 
lecture.  The  Methodist  pastor  was  interviewed  and 
gladly  yielded  the  eleven  o’clock  hour  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing; the  novelty  of  a woman  speaking  drew  a large 
crowd.  For  more  than  an  hour  the  immense  audience 
was  swayed  by  her  invincible  logic  and  so  moved  by  her 
burning  appeals  to  conscience,  that  strong  men  wept. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


169 


At  the  close  of  her  address  106  signed  the  total 
abstinence  pledge,  and  from  that  hour  one  of  the  most 
vigorous  Unions  of  the  State  sprang  into  being.  The 
small  nucleus  formed  by  the  two  young  girls  and  their 
parents  increased  with  such  power  in  number  and  in- 
fluence as  to  make  the  Union  the  agency  for  closing  the 
Barroom  in  that  town  and  county  within  two  years. 

To-da}'^  a corporal’s  guard  could  not  be  found  within 
all  that  section  that  would  for  a moment  tolerate  the 
sale  of  liquor.  Can  Georgia  or  the  South  or  the  Nation 
forget  the  queenly  priestess  who  thus,  in  countless  in- 
stances, opened  prison  doors  and  set  the  captives  free? 
From  the  shining  courts  of  Heaven  she  calls  us  to  arms: 

Oh!  woman! 

Broad  as  thy  great  plains! 

Strong  as  thy  granite  hills, 

The  evangel  of  peace  twixt  North  and  South, 

The  Sister  of  all  men! 

Thy  beloved  Southland  crowns  thee  Queen! 

Of  her  ten  thousand,  thousand  hearts! 


CHAPTER  XII. 


MRS.  L.  M.  N.  STEVENS  AT  STATE  CONVENTION,  SANDERSVILLE, 

1897 URGES  TEMPERANCE  EDUCATION — MRS.  FELTON, 

MRS.  JENNIE  HART  SIBLEY,  AND  MRS.  J.  J.  THOMAS  COM- 
MITTEE TO  WORK  FOR  S.  T.  1.  BILL — INDIGNATION  AT  ITS 
CONTINUED  DEFEAT  IN  THE  LEGISLATURE — PASSING  OF 
FRANCES  E.  WILLARD,  FEBRUARY  19tH,  1898 — MEMORL\L 
SERVICE  AT  CONVENTION  IN  ATLANTA,  JUNE  14tH — ADOP- 
TION OF  FRANCHISE  DEPARTMENT  DISCUSSED  AND  DEFEATED. 

If  powers  divine 

Behold  our  human  actions,  as  they  do, 

I doubt  not  then  that  innocence  shall  make 
False  accusation  blush,  and  tyranny 
Tremble  at  patience. 

—“Winter’s  Tale,”  Act  III,  Sc.  II. 

Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  at  that  time  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  National  and  President  of  the  Maine 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  first  looked  in 
upon  the  Georgia  White  Ribhoners  at  Sandersville, 
where  the  Fifteenth  Annual  Convention  was  in  session, 
April  15-19,  1897.  Her  clear,  judicial  mind,  together 
with  large  experience,  enabled  her  to  handle  vital  ques- 
tions with  gi'eat  effectiveness.  She  stressed  the  import- 
ance of  the  educational  department,  especially  that  of 
Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  in  public  schools. 
She  had  observed  that  Maine  not  only  obtained  her 
prohibitory  law  by  educating  the  people  in  temperance 
truths,  but  held  and  enforced  it  by  a system  of  educa- 
tion. In  an  address  given  during  the  Convention  she 


171 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

pointed  out  how  all  moral  reform,  from  the  days  of 
Jehoshaphat,  King  of  Judah,  to  the  present  time  had 
moved  forward  upon  a basis  of  intelligent  instruction 
given  the  masses.  As  a result  of  her  appeals  and  an  ex- 
haustive paper  by  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  on  “Why 
Georgia  Needs  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction,” 
Mrs.  W.  H.  Felton,  the  eloquent  orator  of  the  Georgia 
W.  C.T.U.,was  appointed  to  go  before  the  Georgia  Legis- 
lature at  its  next  session  and  speak  in  behalf  of  the 
Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  Bill,  which  had  been 
defeated  for  several  successive  years.  Mrs.  Jennie 
Hart  Sibley,  at  that  time  in  the  vigor  of  a full  orbed 
womanhood,  and  who  for  three  years  had  given  herself 
wholly  to  the  interest  of  the  Bill,  was  made  her  first 
assistant.  Mrs.  J.  Jefferson  Thomas  was  also  added  to 
the  Committee,  and  the  delegation  pledged  faithful  co- 
operation. 

The  young  people’s  and  children’s  department  was 
given  an  impetus  through  the  inspirational  addresses  of 
Mrs.  Maud  L.  Green,  of  Colorado,  and  Miss  Hattie  Lee 
Henderson,  of  Texas — National  organizers.  As  an  im- 
mediate result  of  their  work  a large  Loyal  Temperance 
Legion  was  organized  at  Sandersville  and  Mrs.  Rawlings 
made  Superintendent. 

Another  feature  of  this  Convention  was  the  strong 
stirrings  of  indignation  against  the  repeated  refusal  by 
the  State  Legislature  to  enact  temperance  measures. 
The  Scientific  Temperance  Bill  had  been  brought  before 
them  for  eight  consecutive  years,  with  a petition  signed 
by  thousands  of  leading  educators,  physicians,  lawyers, 
ministers,  merchants,  farmers  and  other  prominent 


172 


History  of  the 

voters,  as  well  as  hundreds  of  women,  only  to  be  met 
with  defeat.  Memorials  had  gone  up  for  various  other 
humanitarian  laws,  among  them  the  Anti-Barroom  Bill, 
which  were  refused.  These  conditions  had  prevailed 
until  some  members  of  the  body  had  grown  weary  and 
were  in  favor  of  pursuing  more  radical  methods.  As  an 
outgrowth  of  this  view,  Mrs.  S.  J.  Blanchard,  of  Colum- 
bus, formulated  and  presented  the  following  resolu- 
tions, which  were  adopted: 

Whereas,  The  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Georgia 
provides,  that  “the  people  have  the  right  to  assemble 
peaceably  for  their  common  good,  and  to  apply  to  those 
vested  with  the  powers  of  government  for  the  redress  of 
grievance  by  petition  or  remonstrance;”  and 

Whereas,  The  W.  C.  T.  Union  has  time  and  again 
petitioned  the  Legislature  for  the  passage  of  the  Anti- 
Barroom  Bill,  now  pending  in  that  body;  and 

Whereas,  A petition  of  over  70,000  names  has  been 
presented  to  the  Legislature,  as  well  as  petitions  and 
remonstrances  from  religious,  temperance  and  secular 
societies,  and  organizations  almost  without  number 
have  asked  the  Legislature  to  pass  this  bill,  thus  leaving 
no  doubt  of  the  fact  that  the  people  of  the  State  desire 
its  passage;  therefore, 

Besolved,  That  we  ask  the  Legislature  at  its  next 
session  to  pass  this  bill  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of 
the  people  so  plainly  made  known,  or  else  take  immedi- 
ate steps  to  expunge  the  aforesaid  provision  from  the 
Constitution  and  thereby  save  the  people  any  further 
trouble  and  expense  of  getting  up  petitions  or  remon- 
strances on  any  subject  in  future. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


173 


These  continuous  and  unreasonable  refusals  by  the 
law  makers  of  the  State  to  grant  the  expressed  will  of 
the  best  element  of  her  citizenship,  was  the  origin  of 
some  of  Georgia’s  White  Ribboners  advocating  the 
adoption  of  woman  suffrage.  As  Mrs.  Leila  A.  Dillard, 
now  Vice-President  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  in  reply- 
ing to  Bishop  Candler,  declared,  “That  while  the  State 
Union  had  not  espoused  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage 
and  had  no  such  purpose,  yet  if  the  women  continued  to 
be  driven  back  and  thwarted  in  their  efforts  to  protect 
their  homes  and  children  from  the  power  of  evil  at  the 
polls,  they  needs  must  fall  into  the  last  ditch,  which  was 
woman  suffrage.” 

Early  in  the  next  year  the  shadow  of  a great  sorrow 
fell  upon  the  temperance  world.  Frances  Willard,  the 
woman  whom  God  called  out  to  lead  the  armies  of 
Israel  in  defense  of  the  home,  passed  into  the  heavens 
February  19th,  1898,  from  the  Empire  Hotel,  New  York 
City.  Wherever  truth  was  honored  and  righteouness 
exalted,  her  name  was  written  upon  the  heart;  hence 
the  feeling  of  universal  grief.  But  Georgia  was 
especially  bereaved,  for  she,  who  under  God  had  in- 
spired her  to  dare  the  impossible,  was  taken  in  the  very 
crisis  of  the  work.  At  the  Sixteenth  Annual  Conven- 
tion held  in  Moody’s  Tabernacle,  Atlanta,  Georgia,  June 
14-17,  1898,  after  her  departure  the  officers  felt  as 
children  bereft  of  a mother.  A tender  and  most  beauti- 
ful memorial  service  was  held,  at  the  close  of  which 
Mrs.  J.  A.  Reynolds  offered  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  adopted  by  a rising  vote:  “Frances  E.  Wil- 
lard, who  has  rightly  been  called  the  ‘Uncrowned  Queen 


17^  History  of  the 

of  America,’  now  in  death  we  call  her  our  “Crowned 
Queen,’  whose  glittering  diadem  will  light  us  on  in  the 
work  she  has  entrusted  to  us.” 

At  National  headquarters  there  was  such  stress  and 
confusion,  by  reason  of  Miss  Willard’s  death,  as  to  pre- 
clude the  possibility  of  any  National  officers  coming  to 
Georgia’s  aid.  The  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  State 
work  a Convention  had  to  be  held  by  the  home  force. 
It  was  an  hour  of  test.  Difficult  problems  which  in- 
volved the  very  life  of  the  State  Union,  were  coming  up 
for  solution.  The  wisest  and  strongest  stood  still  before 
God  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  His  power  alone  was 
equal  to  the  responsibility.  There  was  a call  for  im- 
portunate prayer  and  all  who  have  read  the  record 
know  how  fully  the  need  was  supplied. 

When  the  Franchise  question  was  sprung  the  city 
reporter  had  nothing  to  report  but  a dignified  debate 
and  a final  decision.  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley’s  winsome 
manner,  gracious  spirit,  and  deep  conviction  played  a 
most  powerful  part.  For  sixteen  j'^ears,  with  the 
wisdom  of  a seer,  she  had  studied  the  situation  and 
tenderly  j^^et  firmly  bade  her  sisters  keep  on  the  main 
line,  and  strenuously  avoid  any  side  issue  which  might 
entangle  them  to  such  a degree  as  to  defeat  the  verj^ 
end  for  which  they  were  laboring,  namely,  the  over- 
throw of  the  liquor  traffic.  Those  who  favored  the 
adoption  of  the  Franchise  Department  in  harmony  with 
the  National  platform,  on  the  other  hand  were  strongly 
persuaded  that  the  only  effective  way  to  secure  legal 
prohibition  in  Georgia,  was  for  women  to  obtain  the 
ballot  through  a sj’stem  of  education  on  the  subject 


175 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

and  vote  for  it.  This  conviction  had  been  forced  upon 
them  by  the  continued  delay  in  temperance  legislation 
on  the  part  of  the  Georgia  Legislature.  Sixteen  years 
they  had  petitioned  by  telegram,  letter,  and  in  person 
with  no  avail;  hence  they  were  in  favor  of  pursuing  a 
different  policy.  This  opinion  was  held,  however,  by 
only  a minority,  but  with  such  earnestness  as  to  force 
a discussion  of  the  question.  As  presiding  officer,  in 
opening  a way  for  fhe  debate,  Mrs.  Sibley  said,  “For 
some  time  1 have  felt  it  my  duty  to  hold  the  suffrage 
question  at  bay,  believing  a discussion  could  do  no 
good  and  the  adoption  of  it  as  a part  of  our  platform 
would  work  harm,  but  since  there  are  members  of  this 
body  who  entertain  a different  view  and  wish  a free 
discussion,  1 am  persuaded  it  is  best  to  let  the  matter  be 
considered  and  settled  once  for  all.” 

Mrs.  S.  P.  Harvey,  by  request  of  the  chair,  led  in  a 
fervent  prayer  for  God’s  guidance  and  for  the  spirit  of 
unanimity  and  love  to  pervade  the  body,  whatever 
might  be  the  decision. 

The  following  rules  of  order  were  adopted  and 
observed : 

1st.  No  member  shall  speak  more  than  twice  upon 
the  question  before  the  house. 

2nd.  No  member  shall  be  allowed  to  speak  the 
second  time  until  all  who  desire,  have  spoken  once. 

3rd.  Each  person  shall  be  limited  strictly  to  ten 
minutes  for  her  first  speech  and  two  minutes  for  her 
second.  A time  keeper  shall  be  appointed  who  shall 
call  time  as  soon  as  the  limit  is  reached. 

4th.  The  President  shall  recognize  those  upon  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  question  alternately. 


176 


History  of  the 

Mrs.  Mary  L.  McLendon,  of  Atlanta,  led  the  debate  for 
the  adoption  and  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes,  of  Decatur, 
led  the  opposition. 

The  folowing  members  spoke  for  the  adoption: 
Mrs.  Isabella  W.  Parks,  Mrs.  H.  A.  Auten,  Mrs.  G.  W. 
Wilson,  Mrs.  J.  A.  Adkins,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Osborne,  Mrs.  J.  L. 
Gillett. 

Opposed  to  adoption:  Mrs.  L.  E.  Farriss,  Mrs.  Lizzie 
Osburn,  Mrs.  S.  J.  Blanchard,  Mrs.  M.  S.  A.  Webb,  Mrs. 
Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter,  Mrs.  A.  E.  Sexton, 
Mrs.  A.  M.  Street.  A vote  resulted  in  seventeen  dele- 
gates, representing  three  Unions,  for  the  adoption,  and 
tbirt3'-one,  representing  twelve  Unions,  opposed.  Sel- 
dom is  there  found  in  the  history'  of  reforms,  questions 
of  such  delicacy^  handled  in  so  skillful  a manner. 
Though  holding,  as  has  been  seen,  widely^  divergent 
views,  the  laborers  continued  to  labor  in  the  spirit  of  a 
great  sisterhood.  Had  they  followed  the  admonition  of 
some  well-meaning  counselors  from  without,  they' 
would  have  seceded  from  the  National  organization 
and  become  a small  faction  of  no  weight  in  wielding 
a force  for  prohibition.  They'  recognized  the  fact  that 
in  Union  there  was  strength,  that  a house  divided  against 
itself  could  not  stand,  and  furthermore  they  had  started 
out  with  no  day-dream  but  deep  rooted  in  their  very' 
heart  of  hearts  was  a consuming  purpose,  as  enduring 
as  eternity'  to  labor  relentlessly  until  a crowning  victory 
was  won  in  defense  of  their  firesides.  It  is  a signifi- 
cant fact  that  the  ruling  authorities  of  the  Post  Bellum 
era,  which  divided  the  temperance  ranks  on  the  negro 
question  were  the  Sons  of  Temperance.  The  liquor  traf- 


177 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

fic  had  not  struck  its  deadly  roots  deep  enough  into 
their  hearts  to  make  them  willing  to  suffer  humiliation 
rather  than  weaken  their  cause  by  division.  They  were 
the  fathers;  when  God  aroused  the  mothers  He  called 
out  an  army  who  was  not  only  ready  to  fight  but  suffer. 
Looking  info  fhe  faces  of  their  innocent  children,  for 
whom  they  had  gone  down  to  the  very  gates  of  death  to 
give  life,  and  whom  they  had  nourished  with  a divine 
emotion,  it  was  vain  to  speak  to  them  of  anything  but 
a united  front  against  a common  foe.  God,  in  mercy, 
spared  the  mothers  until  the  last  moment  when  this 
mighty  reserve  force  was  drawn  against  the  enemy.  It 
was  a power  nothing  could  conquer!  God  himself  was 
in  command  and  they  had  enlisted  for  life!  Would  a 
little  question  of  woman’s  enfranchisement  stay  or 
divide  them?  Nay,  verily,  they  had  vowed  a vow  as 
high  as  heaven  and  as  enduring  as  the  ages  to  drive 
the  liquor  traffic  from  the  world  and  enthrone  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  who  came  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free 
and  break  every  yoke! 


(12) 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


CLOUDS  AGAIN  LOWER — MANY  UNIONS  DISBAND — NO  CONVEN- 
TION IN  1899 — CONVENTION  AT  AUGUSTA,  1900 — ONLY 
EIGHT  UNIONS  REPRESENTED — MRS.  WILLIAM  C.  SIBLEY 
RESIGNS — HER  PARTING  MESSAGE — MRS.  JENNIE  HART  SIB- 
LEY ELECTED  PRESIDENT — HER  HIGH  QUALIFICATIONS  FOR 
THE  OFFICE. 

They  are  slaves  who  dare  not  he 
In  the  right  with  two  or  three. 

— James  Russell  Lowell. 

The  open  discussion  of  the  Franchise  question, 
although  it  was  defeated  by  a vote  of  31  to  17  in  the 
Convention  of  1898,  so  stirred  the  opposition  of  anti- 
woman suffragists,  as  to  well-nigh  paralyze  the  work. 
Bishop  Candler  renewed  his  attack  through  the  press 
and  from  the  pulpit,  believing  woman  suffrage  to  be 
a violation  of  the  laws  of  God  and  nature,  he  wrote  and 
spoke  with  all  the  powers  of  his  great  mind  against 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  as  a propagator  of  suffrage  views.  The 
fact  that  his  opinion  was  clear  cut  and  given  without 
bitterness,  gave  him  a right  of  way  into  the  hearts  of 
the  people.  The  fact  that  he  was  a potent  and  influ- 
ential factor  in  Georgia  Methodism,  which  had  from 
the  first  fostered  the  movement,  and  that  he  himself  had 
been  a friend  and  supporter  of  the  order,  placed  him 
in  a position  to  command  the  hearing  of  the  public. 
Many  too  busy  to  investigate  for  themselves  as  to  what 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  179 

the  W.  C,  T.  U.  stood  for,  followed  his  counsel  without 
hesitation.  They  naturally  concluded  that  if  an  “own 
familiar  friend”  who  had  been  intimately  associated 
with  the  work  from  its  inception  and  lent  his  aid  in 
establishing  it,  had  come  to  regard  it  as  a dangerous 
influence,  it  were  well  to  listen  and  take  heed.  As  a 
result  of  the  agitation,  in  1899  the  officers  found  it 
impossible  to  hold  a Convention.  Union  after  Union 
disbanded,  many  of  the  most  influential  helpers  grew 
fearful,  organizers  were  unable  to  form  new  Unions, 
and  but  for  the  unflagging  zeal  and  intrepid  spirit  of 
such  women  as  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley,  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart 
Sibley,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Moore,  Mrs.  M.  S.  A.  Webb,  Mrs.  M.  L. 
McLendon,  Mrs.  C.  H.  Smith,  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes, 
Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter,  Mrs.  Stainback  Wilson,  Mrs.  L.  E. 
Fariss,  Mrs.  M.  C.  Rowe,  Mrs.  Isabella  W.  Parks,  and  a 
score  of  others  cast  in  a like  mold,  the  organization 
would  have  died.  This  noble  company  of  elect  women 
knew  that  the  God  of  Israel  was  stronger  than  all  the 
giants  of  opposition  and  were  still  ready  “to  go  up  and 
possess  the  land.” 

The  following  year,  1900,  on  April  the  25th,  there  was 
a bugle  call  to  arms.  Mrs.  William  C.  Sibley,  the 
faithful  President  for  eighteen  years,  had  been  in  the 
secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  as  well  as  many  of  her  co- 
laborers pleading  for  help  and  guidance,  though  under 
the  burden  of  personal  and  family  affliction,  and  weary 
with  the  weight  of  years,  she  called  a Convention  in  her 
own  city,  Augusta,  Georgia,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
counsel  and  advising  the  election  of  a strong  young 
woman  to  lead  the  forces.  So  enfeebled  had  she  be- 


180 


History  of  the 

come  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  have  an  assistant  in 
presiding  over  the  deliberations  of  the  body.  At  her 
request,  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  of  Union  Point,  Geor- 
gia, for  years  zealously  engaged  in  State  work,  came 
and  stood  hy  her  side  in  perhaps  the  most  inspiring  and 
meaningful  efforts  known  to  the  State  Union.  A preg- 
nant reason  stands  out  for  God’s  signal  blessings  on  this 
historic  assemblage.  Only  the  brave  were  there.  Those 
who  had  entered  into  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings 
and  endured  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible.  The  very 
place  of  meeting  was  significant,  St.  John’s  Methodist 
Church.  Among  the  first  to  open  her  doors  to  Frances 
Willard;  at  whose  altars  she  who  had  for  eighteen  years 
led  in  Georgia’s  battles,  consecrated  her  life  to  the  tem- 
perance cause;  the  church  which  eleven  years  ago  had 
given  hospitality  with  lavish  hand  to  the  same  body  and 
now  in  the  midst  of  the  storm  they  had  come  back  to 
her  bosom.  There  they  knelt  and  renewed  their  cove- 
nant to  fight  the  arch  enemy  of  men  until  the  right  hand 
of  the  Omnipotent  gave  victory. 

Although  only  eight  Unions  were  reported,  yet  in 
them  one  can  feel  the  thrill  of  faith’s  powerful  ozone 
and  hear  the  ring  of  triumph.  As  a type  we  give  in 
part,  the  Atlanta  South  Side  Union’s  record,  of  which 
Mrs.  M.  L.  McLendon  was  President: 

“Since  last  Convention  have  organized  five  Loyal 
Temperance  Legions,  Trinity  Home  Mission,  Peter’s 
Street  Mission,  the  Woolen  Mill  Mission,  Wesley  Chapel 
and  Glenn  Street  Loyal  Temperance  Legion.  Had 
lectures  from  Miss  Isabelle  Wing  Lake,  Miss  Jessie  Ack- 
erman, and  Miss  Belle  Kearney,  of  National  W.  C.  T.  U., 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  181 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley  and  Dr.  McLaughlin,  of  Geor- 
gia. Celebrated  Heavenly  birthdays  of  Frances  Wil- 
lard, and  Neal  Dow.  Indorsed  by  strong  resolutions 
published  in  city  papers,  and  by  petition,  the  Willing- 
ham Bill  for  State  Prohibition.  Delegations  appeared 
at  the  Capitol  whenever  the  bill  was  announced  for 
discussion,  and  White  Ribbon  badges  were  presented  to 
every  woman  who  would  accept  them  on  those  occa- 
sions. Distributed  16,994  pages  of  literature,  248  gar- 
ments for  men,  women  and  children,  30  pairs  of  shoes, 
three  hats,  and  on  an  average  of  152  lunches  and  300 
cups  of  coffee.  The  Press  of  Atlanta  published  without 
charge  96  announcements  of  meetings  and  32  reports  of 
same  with  25  articles  in  interest  of  the  work,  held  four 
parlor  meetings,  two  silver  medal  contests,  one  Matron’s 
Oratorical  Contest,  petitioned  the  City  Council  for  a 
marble  fountain,  petitioned  Congress  to  remove  the 
army  canteen  and  refuse  Mr.  Roberts,  as  a Mormon, 
a seat  among  the  law  makers  of  our  country,  asked 
the  Georgia  Legislature  for  a police  matron  in  all  cities 
of  10,000  or  more  inhabitants,  to  prevent  the  employ- 
ment of  child  labor,  and  for  the  State  Bureau  of  Infor- 
mation. Sent  $15.00  for  annual  dues,  and  $2.50  for  pub- 
lication of  Minutes  to  State  Treasurer.  Expended 
$117.78  on  local  work.” 

Such  a report  made  at  such  a time  deserves  a place 
in  the  history  of  the  work.  When  other  Unions  at 
different  centers  were  disbanding  under  the  pressure  of 
opposition,  and  few,  if  any,  could  be  induced  to  enter 
the  ranks,  these  brave  women  marched  steadily  for- 
ward, bearing  aloft  the  banner  without  a single  falter- 


182 


History  of  the 

ing  step.  At  this  distance  when  the  clouds  have  passed 
away,  we  stand  in  their  presence  wdth  uncovered  heads, 
giving  praise  to  Him  who  nerved  their  arm  for  battle. 

The  State  President’s  message  bears  the  same  stamp 
of  intrepid  faith.  Laboring  two  years  under  difficulties 
known  only  to  the  Great  Searcher  of  Hearts,  yet  there  is 
in  it  not  a single  note  of  discouragement.  After  review- 
ing the  work  of  the  past  and  earnestly  bidding  her 
comrades  go  forward,  she  gave  a tender  word  in  part- 
ing. With  deep  emotion  she  said:  “And  now,  dear 
sisters,  the  time  has  come  for  me  to  say  farewell  to  you 
as  President  of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union  of  Georgia.  In  closing  this  era  of  mj'  life,  I close 
the  happiest,  most  useful,  most  honored  and  the  most 
blessed  period  of  the  three  score  years  God  has  given 
me.  1 can  never  thank  you  for  all  that  you  have  been  to 
me  in  these  eighteen  years  of  loving  comradeship.  How 
sweet  the  communion,  how  painful  the  severing  of  the 
tie,  God  only  knows.  One  of  the  sweetest  memories  1 
shall  cherish  is  your  clinging  affection.  For  your  love 
and  confidence  1 thank  you.  May  His  peace  abide 
with  you  and  His  Holy  Spirit  direct  you.  May  He  guide 
in  the  choice  of  your  future  leader  and  constrain  j'ou 
to  be  as  loyal  to  her  as  you  have  been  to  your  retiring 
President.  God  bless  you!  Farewell!” 

We  see  that  heroic  band  gather  about  their  devoted 
chieftain.  Some  with  snowy  locks  and  trembling  steps, 
yet  with  deathless  purpose  to  establish  truth.  Others 
with  the  vigor  of  youth,  and  its  houyant,  bounding  faith 
stirring  them  to  action.  Their  prayers  and  tears  were 
before  God  in  behalf  of  one  whom  He  should  separate 


m 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

for  leadership.  As  they  prayed  He  laid  His  hand 
upon  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  the  gracious,  queenly  daughter 
of  the  old  South.  Through  the  noble  heritage  of  a 
consecrated  ancestry.  He  had  called  her  unto  the  good 
works.  Her  father  and  mother,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James 
B.  Hart,  of  Augusta,  Georgia,  long  before  her  birth,  had 
listened  to  the  voice  of  One  mighty  to  save.  In  benefac- 
tions which  are  fragrant  with  love  they  blessed  their 
County  and  State.  Her  mother  organized  the  first  Sun- 
day School  in  Greene  County  in  1841  and  personally 
superintended  it  for  many  years.  She  became  a friend 
and  mother  to  the  orphans  in  the  city  of  Augusta.  So 
beloved  was  her  father  because  of  his  exemplary  life 
and  Christly  beneficence  among  the  poor,  that  at  his 
death  in  1876,  by  the  request  of  the  people  of  his  town. 
Union  Point,  his  body  lay  in  state  three  days  at 
the  church  that  his  remains  might  be  viewed  by  his 
friends  and  former  slaves. 

Is  there  wonder  that  a moral  reformer  should 
descend  from  such  a father  and  mother?  But  she 
had  to  enter  Christ’s  training  school  before  she 
had  the  strength  to  breast  the  storms  of  opposition 
in  Georgia.  One  day,  under  the  shadows  of  a 
great  sorrow,  in  agony  of  spirit,  she  turned  to  Him 
for  help.  As  she  waited  before  Him  He  bade  her  come 
with  Him  into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  listen  to 
the  cries  of  humanity.  Like  Matthew,  she  at  once  rose 
up  and  followed  Him.  As  she  went  into  the  homes  of 
the  i)oor  she  saw  the  marks  of  unutterable  woe  in  the 
faces  of  women  and  awful  despair  stamped  on  the 
countenances  of  men  chained  by  the  demon  drink! 


i8^  History  of  the 

Children  there  were,  hut  no  sound  of  laughter  or  mer- 
riment. With  ragged  garments  and  pinched  faces  they 
told  their  story  of  misery  and  want.  There  she  knelt 
with  them  in  prayer  and  pledged  God  that  the  last  drop 
of  her  hlood  would  be  consecrated  to  the  protection  of 
their  homes  against  the  merciless  hand  of  the  saloon! 
There  the  grain  of  corn  fell  into  the  ground  and  died. 
Henceforth  she  was  able  to  stand  in  the  strength  of 
Him  who  made  her  free  by  the  power  of  the  truth.  No 
storms  which  swept  over  the  face  of  the  State  work 
could  unsettle  this  God-planted  woman. 

For  years  prior  to  her  election  as  President  she  had 
been  abundant  in  labors,  filling  various  important  offi- 
ces; had  done  notable  work  as  Superintendent  of  the  Y. 
Branch,  as  leader  of  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion,  as 
District  President  of  the  Eighth  Congressional  District, 
as  President  of  the  County  of  Greene,  and  President  of 
the  local  Union  at  Union  Point.  She  had  many  times 
served  as  Delegate-at-Large  to  the  National  Conven- 
tions, and  in  1895  represented  Georgia  and  South  Caro- 
lina at  the  World’s  Convention  in  London,  hut  perhaps 
the  most  useful  service  she  had  rendered  up  to  the  date 
of  her  election  was  as  a framer  and  co-adjuster  of  the 
Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  Bill,  which  she  ad- 
vocated in  person  for  three  consecutive  years  before  the 
General  Assembly  of  Georgia.  There  her  thoughtful 
mind  anchored  its  hope.  Like  the  wise  Germans  she 
believed  that  what  we  would  make  of  the  nation  we 
must  put  into  the  school.  For  five  j^ears  prior  to  her 
Presidency  she  wrote  and  spoke  on  this  all  important 
department  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  with  such  fervor  and 


MRS.  THOMAS  E.  PATTERSON. 
Fourth  President. 


vjr/ 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  185 

intelligence  as  to  arrest  the  thought  of  the  leading 
educators. 

In  assuming  the  responsibility  of  leadership,  she 
not  only  possessed  rare  equipment  through  ancestral 
gifts,  education  and  a rich  store  of  information, 
but  the  fine  intuition  of  knowing  how  to  adjust  the 
workers  to  the  work,  and  what  was  better  still,  the 
ability  to  inspire  confidence.  Scores  of  women  at  dif- 
ferent centers  of  the  State,  trace  their  development 
with  God’s  blessing  to  the  inspirational  words  and 
example  of  this  noble  woman.  As  historian  countless 
letters  have  fallen  under  the  eye  of  the  writer,  attesting 
the  power  of  her  personality.  The  inherent  ability  to 
weigh  character  with  a winsome  tactfulness,  and  un- 
selfish devotion  to  the  cause,  fitted  her  to  draw  into 
the  work  some  of  Georgia’s  choicest  women;  women 
quick  to  discern,  apt  to  teach,  wise  in  enterprising, 
and  strong  to  execute.  To-day  we  are  reaping  the 
golden  fruitage  of  her  seed  sowing.  Some  of  the 
daughters  of  her  tuition  are  bringing  things  to  pass  in 
moral  reform,  which  places  every  citizen  of  the  State 
under  tribute  to  them.  This  is  notably  true  of  the 
present  Chief  Executive  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Mrs. 
T.  E.  Patterson,  and  her  wise  co-laborer,  Mrs.  Leila  A. 
Dillard.  When  the  lengthening  shadows  of  years  cross 
their  path,  they,  with  many  others,  will  bless  the  day 
they  were  inspired  by  Jennie  Hart  Sibley’s  leadership 
to  wage  war  against  the  saloon. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


A VIGOROUS  NEW  ADMINISTRATION — BARNESVILLE  CONVEN- 
TION, 1901 — MRS.  STEVENS  AND  MISS  GORDON  PRESENT — 
PASSAGE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  TEMPERANCE  INSTRUCTION  BILL 
DECEMBER,  1901 — INTERESTING  CELEBRATION  IN  BOSTON  AT 
THE  HOME  OF  MRS.  MARY  H.  HUNT,  NATIONAL  SUPERIN- 
TENDENT S.  T.  I. 

There  is  no  veil  like  light — no  adamantine  armor 
against  hurt  like  the  truth. 

— George  McDonald. 

At  the  beginning  of  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley’s  adminis- 
tration as  President  of  the  Georgia  Woman’s  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  the  pall  of  death  hung  over  the 
work  throughout  the  State.  Prejudice  engendered  by 
the  suffrage  agitation  was  more  difficult  to  combat  than 
the  opposition  which  beset  the  leaders  from  the  start. 
Many  in  the  churches  had  withdrawn  their  sjmipathy 
through  the  misapprehension  of  the  Union’s  relation  to 
the  woman’s  suffrage  movement.  Within  the  ranks  were 
fears,  without  were  fightings.  With  these  conditions 
Mrs.  Sibley  realized  that  tremendous  effort  had  to  be 
made  to  gain  vigor  and  prestige  sufficient  to  move  for- 
ward; hence  immediately  following  her  election  she 
planned  a campaign  of  education  through  the  distri- 
bution of  literature  and  a series  of  lectures.  Mrs.  Mary 
W.  Newton  and  Miss  Belle  Kearney,  two  of  the  ablest 
speakers  of  the  National  Union,  were  engaged  to  can- 


187 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

vass  the  State.  A State  Organizer,  Mrs.  S.  J.  Blanchard, 
of  Columbus,  Georgia,  was  also  put  in  the  field.  As  a 
result  Unions  were  established  at  LaGrange,  Athens, 
Griffin,  Newnan,  Carrollton,  Lawrenceville,  Newton 
Union  at  Augusta,  J.  E.  Sibley  Union  at  Augusta,  Wash- 
ington, Eatonton,  Harlem,  Thomson,  Harmony  Grove, 
Jeffersonville,  Sharon,  Dublin,  Fayetteville,  Cusseta, 
Lumpkin,  Richland,  Shiloh,  Loyal  Temperance  Legion 
at  Lumpkin,  and  a most  flourishing  Union  at  Greens- 
boro, organized  by  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley.  Not  only 
did  Mrs.  Sibley  plan  and  aid  in  the  execution  of  this 
wholesale  dissemination  of  temperance  truth,  but  con- 
ducted a large  correspondence  through  which  new 
Unions  were  instructed,  and  those  already  founded 
stimulated. 

At  the  first  Convention  held  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  Barnesville,  Georgia,  she  reported  1,038  letters 
written  and  1,390  miles  traveled  during  the  year  in 
interest  of  the  work.  These  letters  were  written  with- 
out the  aid  of  clerical  help  and  the  expense  of  travel 
was  paid  out  of  her  purse  to  the  amount  of  $93.97.  The 
wisdom  of  her  recommendations  to  the  body  at  this 
Convention,  show  how  fully  her  thought  was  given  to 
the  advancement  of  the  cause.  She  urged  every  local 
Union  to  subscribe  for  a leading  liquor  paper,  hold 
parlor  meetings,  offer  prizes  in  schools  for  the  best 
essays  on  “Effects  of  Alcohol  and  Other  Narcotics  upon 
the  Human  System,”  impose  a fine  on  any  who  refused 
to  wear  the  White  Ribbon,  adopt  the  Department  of 
Non-Alcoholic  Medication,  buy  and  circulate  Mrs. 
Martha  M.  Allen’s  book.  “Alcohol  a Dangerous  and 


188  History  of  the 

Unnecessary  Medicine,”  secure  the  co-operation  of  Mis- 
sionary Societies,  answer  argument  through  the  Press 
favoring  the  Army  Canteen,  circulate  petitions  for  the 
passage  of  the  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  Bill, 
olTer  prizes  for  best  essays  on  “International  Peace,” 
organize  Bands  of  Mercy  in  connection  with  Loyal  Tem- 
perance Legions,  send  petition  to  Congress  to  enact 
a measure  against  prostitution  in  Manilla. 

The  reasons  for  the  recommendations  were  so  clearly 
stated  in  her  Annual  Message  that  the  most  uninformed 
delegate  could  see  their  value  and  realize  the  import- 
ance of  acting  upon  them.  The  best  help  had  been 
secured  for  the  Convention;  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens, 
of  Portland,  Maine,  who  had  succeeded  Miss  Willard 
as  President  of  the  National  Union,  and  Miss  Anna  Gor- 
don, National  Vice-President  and  World’s  Secretary 
of  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion.  The  strong,  well- 
poised  character  of  Mrs.  Stevens,  together  with  a rich 
store  of  information,  was  a savor  of  life  to  Georgia  in 
this  critical  hour.  She  believed  in  the  power  of  truth, 
had  seen  it  conquer  in  her  own  state,  had  stood  by  the 
side  of  Neal  Dow  for  years  and  witnessed  the  foe 
driven  back  by  its  keen  lance,  and  best  of  all,  she  had 
met  Christ  in  young  womanhood,  who  whispered  into 
her  heart  the  fact  that  right  was  eternal — the  solid 
rock  upon  which  the  ages  rested  and  could  not  fail. 
She  knew  the  cause  was  obliged  to  succeed  in  Georgia 
if  its  advocates  were  faithful.  Therefore  her  words 
were  spoken  with  a calmness  of  one  conscious  of  vic- 
tory. They  went  to  the  heart,  quickened  the  faith,  and 
inspired  courage. 


m 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

And  Anna  A.  Gordon — that  queen  of  gentleness — 
who  had  traversed  land  and  sea  with  the  sainted  Fran- 
ces Willard,  breathing  hope  into  broken  spirits  through 
her  message  on  the  power  of  organized  childhood,  like 
some  good  angel,  by  her  very  presence  blessed  and  up- 
lifted. Strong,  luminous  words  she  gave  on  the  respon- 
sibility of  mothers  in  the  temperance  crusade,  showing 
how  world  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  would  essen- 
tially follow  where  children  were  given  systematic 
teaching  on  the  effects  of  alcohol.  As  these  eminent 
servants  of  God  talked,  the  hearts  of  their  hearers 
burned  within  them.  The  old  guard  who  had  fought 
the  battle  in  Georgia  for  nineteen  years  felt  their  youth 
renewed  and  the  young  recruits  with  bounding  spirits 
became  eager  to  make  a charge. 

Among  them  was  one  whom  God  had  led  to  that 
place  as  verily  as  He  constrained  David  to  go  on  the 
field  and  challenge  the  giant  of  the  Philistines — Mary 
Brewster  Patterson — the  present  noble  leader  of  the 
forces  in  Georgia.  As  Mrs.  Sibley  called  upon  God  and 
under  His  guidance  sent  out  Miss  Belle  Kearney  to  seek 
any  who  were  worthy  to  suffer  for  righteouness,  she 
found  this  devoted  woman  “hid  away.”  When  she  came 
forth  to  be  appointed  for  service  at  this  Convention,  all 
recognized  her  as  a chosen  vessel.  She  responded  to 
the  address  of  welcome  with  whole-heartedness  and  at 
the  re-election  of  officers  was  made  Assistant  Becording 
Secretary  and  President  of  Spalding  County  W.  C.  T.  U., 
and  was  also  added  to  important  committees.  Thus 
we  see  she  stepped  into  line  a full  fledged  soldier,  with 
the  mighty  weapon  of  faith  and  devotion. 


190 


History  of  the 

Another  historic  figure  appeared  for  the  first  time 
at  this  Convention— Mrs.  Leila  A.  Dillard — the  present 
Vice-President  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  She  comes 
before  us,  however,  only  through  her  good  work,  as 
on  account  of  illness  in  her  family  she  was  unable  to 
attend.  As  President  of  the  LaGrange  W.  C.  T.  U. 
she  reported  twelve  active  members  and  two  honorary 
members,  giving  Scientific  Temperance  and  Press  Work 
as  specific  Departments.  Of  her  call  into  the  work,  she 
says:  “My  connection  with  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  pre- 
ceded by  a distinct  spiritual  impression  that  the  Lord 
was  leading  me  into  larger  service.  The  impression 
was  so  deep  as  to  produce  a feeling  of  awe  and  so  bur- 
dened me  that  I confided  the  secret  to  a friend.”  God 
works  at  both  ends  of  the  line.  As  Saul  of  Tarsus 
prayed,  Ananias  was  commanded  to  go  and  instruct 
him.  As  Mrs.  Sibley,  in  her  otRce,  agonized  for  aid. 
He  rolled  the  burden  of  service  upon  the  soul  of  Leila 
A.  Dillard.  None  who  have  followed  the  unremitting 
toil  of  this  faithful  officer  for  the  past  decade,  doubts 
that  the  Holy  One  laid  His  hand  upon  her  and  set  her 
apart  to  the  ministry  of  prayer  and  v.'ork  that  the 
children  of  men  might  be  redeemed  from  the  curse  of 
drink.  With  painstaking  diligence  and  loving  loyalty, 
she  has,  through  affliction  and  heavy  cares  of  widow- 
hood, stood  at  her  post  like  the  brave  sentinel  who 
declared  that  he  would  rather  die  than  lower  the  flag. 

On  the  official  roster  of  this  Convention  is  seen  the 
name  of  another  faithful  servant  of  the  cause,  that  of 
Mrs.  R.  V.  Hardeman,  of  Macon,  Georgia.  As  Yice- 
President-at-Large,  State  Recording  Secretary,  and 


191 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

editor  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Department  on  the  first  page 
of  The  Georgian — a temperance  paper  at  that  time 
published  by  Hon.  Dupont  Guerry,  through  whose  gen- 
erosity the  space  was  granted — Mrs.  Hardeman  wrought 
valiantly.  With  the  heavy  burdens  of  household 
cares  pressing  upon  her  and  family  afflictions  demand- 
ing her  time  she  yet  attended  Conventions  and  served 
with  patient  zeal  wherever  she  was  placed  by  her  co- 
laborers. 

Still  another  name  glowing  with  the  luster  of  beau- 
tiful and  Christ-like  fidelity  appears  on  the  calendar  of 
this  period.  It  is  that  of  the  gentle  saint — Mrs.  C.  H. 
Smith,  of  Ellaville,  Georgia.  As  State  Treasurer  and 
President  of  Schley  County  her  record  is  golden.  So 
ardently  was  she  attached  to  her  official  duties  that 
four  o’clock  in  the  morning  found  her  at  her  desk  post- 
ing her  books  or  writing  checks  to  be  mailed  on  early 
trains.  This  diligent  faithfulness  was  practiced,  let  it 
be  remembered,  in  the  days  when  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  treas- 
ury was  not  sufficiently  imbursed  to  pay  any  of  the 
officers  for  services  which,  if  done  in  the  world  of 
commerce,  would  have  commanded  handsome  returns. 
The  heavens  bend  in  whispering  music  above  the  heads 
of  these  self-denying  disciples  of  the  lowly  Nazarene. 

During  1901,  most  strenuous  efforts  were  put  forth 
in  behalf  of  the  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  Bill, 
with  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  the  State  President,  and 
Miss  Lula  A.  Haralson,  of  Carrollton,  Georgia,  Superin- 
tendent of  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction,  as  leaders. 
Prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  Miss  Haralson 
sent  numerous  petitions  signed  by  officers  of  Quarterly 


192 


History  of  the 

Conferences,  General  Meetings,  District  Meetings,  Asso- 
ciations, together  with  a large  package  of  postals  strung 
on  white  ribbon  upon  which  was  written  approval 
of  the  bill  and  signed  by  every  City  and  County  Super- 
intendent of  public  schools  in  the  State,  to  each  Repre- 
sentative. By  this  time  even  Utah — the  last  State  in  the 
Nation,  except  Georgia,  had  enacted  the  measure,  mak- 
ing Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  mandatory  in  the 
public  schools.  The  will  of  Georgia’s  best  citizens  had 
been  so  long  and  often  expressed  by  petition  and  other- 
wise, that  the  Legislature  began  to  yield  to  the  pressure. 

On  November  the  19th  of  this  year,  1901,  the  House 
of  Representatives  passed  the  bill  and  it  was  sent  to 
the  Senate  for  action.  Wherever  there  was  a local 
Union,  earnest  supplication  was  made  that  the  Senate 
might  act  favorably.  Just  before  the  bill  was  to  come 
up  in  the  Senate  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  Mrs.  M.  Y. 
Gates,  Mrs.  Mary  L.  McLendon  and  Mrs.  Cochran 
secured  a hearing  before  the  Educational  Committee  of 
the  Senate  and  spoke  in  behalf  of  the  measure.  A few 
days  thereafter,  December  17th,  1901,  the  Senate  passed 
the  bill.  Governor  Allen  D.  Candler  affixed  his  signa- 
ture, and  it  became  a law.  The  text  of  the  bill  reads  as 
follows : 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Georgia,  and  be  it  hereby  enacted  by  the 
authority  of  the  same,  that  the  nature  of  alcoholic 
drinks  and  narcotics  and  special  instruction  as  to  their 
effect  upon  the  human  system,  in  connection  with  the 
several  divisions  of  the  subject  of  Physiology'  and 
Hygiene,  shall  be  included  in  the  branches  of  study 


MRS.  CHESTERFIELD  H.  SMITH. 


m 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

taught  in  common  or  public  schools  in  the  State  of 
Georgia,  and  shall  be  studied  and  taught  as  thoroughly 
and  in  the  same  manner  as  other  like  required  branches 
are  in  said  school. 

Section  2.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  County  and  City 
Superintendents  of  schools  receiving  aid  from  the  State, 
to  report  to  the  State  School  Commissioner  all  failures 
and  neglect  on  the  part  of  Boards  of  Education  to  make 
provision  for  instruction  of  all  pupils  in  any  and  all 
of  the  schools  under  their  jurisdiction,  in  Physiology 
and  Hygiene  (Physiology  which  shall  include  with  other 
Hygiene,  the  nature  and  effect  of  alcoholic  drinks,  and 
other  narcotics  upon  the  human  system).  And  the 
Board  of  Education  of  each  County  of  this  State  shall 
adopt  proper  rules  to  carry  the  provisions  of  this  law 
into  effect. 

Section  3.  No  license  shall  be  granted  any  person  to 
teach  in  the  public  schools,  receiving  money  from  the 
State,  after  the  first  Monday  in  January,  1903,  who  has 
not  passed  a satisfactory  examination  in  Physiology  and 
Hygiene  (Physiology  which  shall  include  with  other 
Hygiene,  the  nature  and  effect  of  alcoholic  drinks  and 
other  narcotics  upon  the  human  system). 

Section  4.  Be  it  further  enacted,  that  all  laws  and 
parts  of  laws  in  conflict  with  this  Act,  are  hereby 
repealed. 

Georgia’s  victory  was  telegraphed  to  National  Head- 
quarters at  Evanston,  Illinois,  and  to  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt, 
National  and  World’s  Superintendent  of  Scientific  Tem- 
perance Instruction.  At  Boston,  Massachusetts,  a great 
jubilee  was  at  once  planned  by  Mrs.  Hunt  to  commemo- 

(13) 


^94  History  of  the 

rate  the  event  and  was  held  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Hunt, 
January  25th.  Mrs.  Sibley,  as  President  of  the  Georgia 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  framer  of  the  bill,  was  invited  to  be 
present  and  speak  on  the  occasion.  Being  unable  to 
attend,  she  sent  a brief  but  stirring  history  of  Georgia’s 
unremitting  endeavors  through  eleven  years  to  secure 
the  law  and  a thrilling  description  of  the  final  victory, 
which  will  be  seen,  was  read  on  the  occasion  of  the 
jubilee. 

Below  we  quote  a most  graphic  description  of  the 
scene  which  was  to  commemorate,  up  to  that  time,  the 
most  notable  achievement  in  the  histor^^  of  Georgia’s 
temperance  legislation.  Other  battles  had  been  on  a 
temporary  basis,  but  that  stood  for  permanent  reform 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  a generation  of  prohibitionists 
would  grow  up  understanding  the  nature  and  effects  of 
alcohol  upon  the  human  system  and  would  as  naturally 
shun  it  as  they  would  any  other  poison. 

A REMARKABLE  CELEBRATION. 

“On  Saturday  evening,  January  25th,  the  National 
Department  of  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  of  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  celebrated  the 
twentieth  year  of  its  legislative  period  and  the  recent 
passage  of  a temperance  education  law  by  Georgia, 
the  last  State  hitherto  without  such  legislation.  The 
celebration  was  held  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  at  the 
home  of  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt,  World  and  National  Super- 
intendent of  this  Department. 

“The  first  temperance  education  law  in  the  world  was 
enacted  in  Vermont  in  1882.  As  state  after  state  in 
rapid  succession  placed  these  laws  upon  its  statute 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


195 


books,  a ‘temperance  education  map’  was  prepared 
showing  the  states  which  had  temperance  education 
laws  in  white,  the  states  which  had  none  in  black,  and 
as  such  laws  have  been  enacted  in  one  state  after 
another,  the  black  covering  of  each  has  been  removed. 

“When  the  Governor  of  Georgia  signed  a Temperance 
Education  Law  for  that  State  in  December  of  last  year, 
it  was  therefore  the  last  of  the  laws  to  be  enacted  by 
the  Legislatures  of  every  one  of  the  forty-five  states 
of  the  United  States  and  by  the  National  Congress,  all 
of  which  require  Physiology  and  Hygiene,  with  special 
reference  to  the  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks  and  other 
narcotics  to  be  taught  in  all  schools  under  State  and 
Federal  control. 

“The  removal  of  the  black  cap  from  Georgia  on  the 
Temperance  Education  map  was  therefore  an  occasion 
of  historic  interest,  and  a company  of  well-known  rep- 
resentative people  gathered  informally  to  witness  this 
removal  and  to  welcome  Georgia  to  the  white  sister- 
hood thus  made  complete. 

“In  one  of  Mrs.  Hunt’s  parlors  was  hung  the  large 
map  representing  in  white  the  states  having  Temper- 
ance Education  laws.  One  of  these  maps  hung  in  the 
Columbian  Exposition  in  1893  and  since  in  Mrs.  Hunt’s 
home,  the  other,  the  map  that  has  traveled  with  Mrs. 
Hunt  in  thousands  of  miles  of  journeyings,  and  has  hung 
in  audience  rooms  and  Legislative  halls  in  nearly  every 
state  of  this  country,  the  Parliament  of  Canada,  and  the 
Academie  de  Palais,  of  Belgium,  when  Mrs.  Hunt 
attended  the  International  Anti-Alcohol  Congress  in 
Brussels. 


m 


History  of  the 

“Among  the  guests  were  representatives  from  the 
leading  City,  State,  National  and  World  Temperance 
Organizations,  from  the  Young  People’s  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavor,  the  press,  prominent  clergymen 
and  physicians  and  the  Secretary  of  Massachusetts 
State  Board  of  Education. 

“Pleasant  reminiscent  speeches  on  the  many  phases 
of  this  work  were  made  by  some  of  the  guests,  and 
letters  were  read  from  friends  of  this  education  in 
all  parts  of  the  country,  among  them  one  from  Mrs. 
Sibley,  State  President  of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  of  Georgia,  and  one  from  Governor 
Candler,  of  Georgia,  who,  in  signing  this  last  law,  by  a 
happy  coincidence  crowned  the  work  to  which  he  had 
already  given  valuable  aid.  As  a member  of  the  Forty- 
ninth  Congress,  Governor  Candler  was  Chairman  of 
the  House  Committee  on  Education  and  his  was  the 
decisive  vote  in  that  Committee  that  led  to  the  favorable 
reporting  of  the  National  Temperance  Educational  Law 
in  1886,  which  was  followed  by  its  enactment.  Gov- 
ernor (then  Congressman)  Candler  said  of  his  relation 
to  the  National  law  when  told  that  voting  for  it  might 
atfect  his  political  prospects:  Tf  voting  for  this  meas- 
ure helps  me  politically,  1 shall  be  glad  of  it;  if  not,  I 
shall  vote  for  it  just  the  same,  for  1 believe  it  is  right.’ 

“Before  cutting  the  stitches  from  the  black  cap  cover- 
ing Georgia,  Mrs.  Hunt  said  in  part : 

“ T stand  in  the  presence  of  this  map  grateful  for 
what  God  hath  wrought.  Its  whitening  field  as  cap 
after  cap  has  been  taken  from  these  states  speaks  of 
divine  purposes  of  mercy  to  us  as  a nation.  My  heart 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  197 

goes  out  to  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  women,  the 
great  rank  and  file  of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  and  to  every  one  in  and  out  of  the  organi- 
zation who  has  stood  by  and  defended  the  cause.  This 
nation  owes  a debt  of  gratitude  to  the  noble  men,  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  who  have  passed  these 
laws. 

“ ‘It  is  not  self-assumption,  it  is  not  arrogance  for  us, 
people  of  the  United  States  to  recognize  the  fact  that  we 
seem  to  have  been  chosen  by  Providence  to  be  the  ex- 
amples and  custodians  of  liberty  for  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  A people  entrusted  with  such  a mission  should 
themselves  be  free  from  the  worst  of  all  bondages,  that 
to  alcohol.  Such  freedom,  to  he  permanent  for  a self- 
governing  people,  must  be  the  result  of  intelligent 
individual  choice.  And  such  choice  must  have  its  basis 
in  education  as  universal  as  the  people.  That  is  the 
philosophy  of  what  this  map  represents  as  I saw  it 
when  I first  began  to  think  about  this  subject  long  ago 
and  step  by  step  to  work  forward  to  the  present  hour. 

“ ‘As  I cut  the  stitches  that  liberate  the  last  state  from 
the  black  cap  and  the  whole  map  is  white,  1 know  that 
if  we  stop  now,  satisfied  with  rejoicing,  in  less  than 
five  years  the  whole  map  may  be  in  black  again,  for 
already  there  is  an  organized  effort  on  the  part  of 
some  to  minimize  this  education,  to  take  it  out  of  the 
lower  grades,  to  take  out  all  decisive  instruction  against 
alcohol  and  other  narcotics  leaving  only  a little  inferen- 
tial instruction  as  to  the  general  utility  of  being  clean 
and  good.  To  prevent  this  will  command  the  utmost 
effort  of  every  lover  of  humanity.  All  Americans 


198 


History  of  the 

should  protect  these  laws  and  their  enforcement  as 
they  would  the  flag  itself.’ 

“As  the  last  stitch  was  cut  and  the  black  covering  fell 
from  Georgia  leaving  the  entire  map  white,  the  assem- 
bled friends  joined  in  singing,  ‘Praise  God  from  whom 
all  blessings  flow.’ 

“Secretary  Hill,  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of 
Education,  read  a brief  message  to  Mr.  G.  R.  Glenn, 
State  Commissioner  of  Education  of  Georgia,  testifying 
to  witnessing  the  removal  of  the  black  cap  and  express- 
ing the  hope  that  ‘the  map  of  our  loyalty  and  our  attain- 
ment may  in  time  become  as  spotless  and  as  cheering 
as  that  of  our  legislation.’ 

“A  pleasant  social  hour  followed,  light  refreshments 
being  served.  As  a souvenir,  each  guest  was  presented 
with  a card  tied  with  white  ribbon  and  bearing  two 
maps  of  the  United  States,  one  with  the  states  all  in 
black  representing  the  condition  in  1882  before  the  pass- 
age of  the  first  temperance  education  law,  and  below 
it  the  other  map,  that  of  1902,  with  the  states  all  in 
white.” 

Mrs.  Hunt  sent  a letter  of  personal  greetings  and  con- 
gratulations to  Mrs.  Sibley  filled  with  praise  to  God  for 
His  leadership  and  blessing  in  this  vital  department  of 
temperance  truth- — a department  which  perhaps  did 
more  to  educate  a generation  of  young  men  in  the  Geor- 
gia Legislature  who  voted  for  state-wide  prohibition  in 
1907,  than  any  single  agency. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


TWO  CONVENTIONS  IN  1902,  MILLEDGEVILLE  IN  MAY  AND 
THOMSON  IN  OCTOBER — VETO  OF  DISPENSARY  BILL — GOV- 
ERNOR CANDLER  FIRST  HONORARY  MEMBER — MRS.  ARMOR 
ENTERED  THE  WORK,  GRIFFIN  CONVENTION,  1903 — EASTMAN 
CONVENTION  1904,  MRS.  S.  M.  D.  FRY  SPEAKER,  GEORGIA 
BULLETIN  ESTABLISHED — MRS.  SIBLEY  RESIGNS  AND  MRS. 
ARMOR  ELECTED  AT  AMERICUS  1905 — MRS.  NELL  G.  BURGER 
SPEAKER— RECORD  BREAKING  CONVENTION  AT  LA  GRANGE  IN 
1906 — NEW  CHARTER  SECURED. 

One  sows  and  another  reaps,  that  both  he  that  soweth 
and  he  that  reapeth  may  rejoice  together. 

—John  4:36-37. 

1902  has  become  memorable  as  the  most  strenuous 
year  up  to  that  time  in  the  history  of  the  State  Union. 
Six  organizers,  Mrs.  Nell  G.  Burger,  Miss  Belle  Kearney, 
Mrs.  Helen  L.  Bullock,  Miss  May  Russell,  of  Mississippi, 
Mrs.  Adah  Wallace  Unruh,  of  Portland,  Oregon,  and  Miss 
Christine  Tinling,  of  London,  England,  were  in  the  field 
at  different  dates.  The  State  President,  with  her  staff 
of  coadjutors,  was  abundant  in  labors.  Two  Conven- 
tions, one  May  6-8,  in  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Milledge- 
ville,  Georgia;  the  other,  September  30  to  October  4,  in 
the  Methodist  Church  at  Thomson,  Georgia,  were  held 
with  remarkable  success.  Forty-four  Unions  were 
reported,  an  increase  of  thirty-five  since  1900,  when  the 
State  Organization  was  seriously  threatened  with  ex- 
tinction. A corresponding  gain  was  shown  in  the 
treasury. 


200 


History  of  the 

Another  signal  victory  had  been  achieved  in  Gov- 
ernor Allen  D.  Candler’s  veto  of  the  Dispensary  Bill — a 
Bill  drafted  and  supported  by  the  Hon.  Seaborn  Wright, 
of  Rome,  Georgia.  We  will  let  Mrs.  Sibley  tell  in  her 
own  graphic  way  how  a whirlwind  campaign  was  insti- 
tuted to  secure  the  Governor’s  veto.  In  her  Annual 
Message  delivered  at  Milledgeville,  she  says:  “God 
marvelously  answered  prayer  and  co-operated  with  us 
in  our  work  of  gaining  the  Governor’s  veto  to  the  Dis- 
pensary Bill.  It  was  almost  like  the  wonderful  crusade 
of  1873  in  its  manifestation  of  power.  We  applied  to 
an  eminent  lawyer  for  advice.  He  said  there  was  no 
alternative  but  to  wait  until  the  meeting  of  the  next 
Legislature  and  ask  for  a repeal  of  the  law.  We  were 
enroute  at  the  time  to  the  evening  service  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  it  being  Temperance  Sunday.  As  we  walked 
our  hearts  were  filled  with  prayer.  At  the  Church  door 
the  Holy  Spirit  whispered,  Ts  the  arm  of  the  Lord 
shortened  that  He  cannot  save,  or  His  ear  heavy  that  He 
cannot  hear?’  ‘Why  not  ask  the  veto  of  the  Gov- 
ernor?’ At  the  close  of  the  powerful  temperance  ser- 
mon by  the  Baptist  preacher,  your  President  forgot  the 
Pauline  doctrine  of  women  keeping  silent  in  the  church, 
arose  to  her  feet  under  protest  by  her  son  pulling  her 
dress  to  be  seated  and  remember  she  was  in  the 
Baptist  Church,  (which  disapproved  of  women  speak- 
ing), but  the  Spirit’s  power  seemed  greater  than  mere 
man’s  protest.  The  speech  of  thanks  for  a tribute  to 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  made  and  the  request  that  a special 
prayer  be  offered  that  the  Governor  might  veto  this 
bill.  The  minister.  Rev.  R.  E.  L.  Harris,  asked  all  who 


MRS.  MARY  HARRIS  ARMOR. 
Third  President. 


201 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

endorsed  the  request  to  stand  and  it  was  unanimously 
acceded  to.  A temperance  revival  took  place  in  the 
audience  and  a petition  was  started  from  the  church. 
The  Y.’s  next  morning  carried  petitions  through  the  vil- 
lage and  twenty-five  letters  were  sent  by  the  first  mail 
to  as  many  dry  towns,  praying  for  co-operation  in  the 
petition  movement.  In  less  than  three  days  7,000  names 
were  before  the  Governor,  ‘and  the  work  was  accom- 
plished.’ ” 

Governor  Candler’s  devotion  to  right  in  the  State 
and  National  Legislation  made  it  a happy  task  to  grant 
the  memorial  of  Georgia’s  truest  citizenry.  It  was  most 
fitting  at  the  Thomson  Convention,  which  met  soon 
after  the  victory,  that  he  should  be  the  first  honored 
with  a life  membership  in  the  State  Union.  When  this 
action  was  taken,  Mrs.  Sibley,  as  President  and  Super- 
intendent of  Legislation  and  Petition,  was  requested  by 
the  body  to  express  the  gratitude  of  the  Georgia 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  to  Governor 
Candler  for  his  brave  deed  and  ask  that  he  accept  the 
life-membership  certificate  as  a small  token  of  deep 
appreciation.  Governor  Candler  responded  in  the  fol- 
lowing gracious  words: 

“I  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  my  certificate  of 
membership  in  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  and  to  thank  you  and  the  Union  for  the  honor 
you  have  done  me.  I have  put  this  certificate,  with 
my  college  diplomas,  my  commission  as  an  officer 
in  the  Confederate  Army  and  as  a member  of  the 
American  Congress,  in  a tin  cannister  and  shall  treasure 
it  more  highly  than  either  of  these  other  highly  prized 


202 


History  of  the 

papers.  Indeed  I do  not  feel  that  I could  enjoy  a 
greater  distincton  than  to  have  been  elected  by  this 
noble  army  of  Christian  women  to  honorary  member- 
ship with  them.” 

At  the  Twenty-first  Annual  Convention,  held  in  the 
First  Methodist  Church,  Griffin,  Georgia,  October  6-8, 
1903,  a decided  advance  over  the  year  previous  was 
reported.  Mrs.  Adah  Wallace  Unruh  had  made  a most 
successful  tour  of  the  State  and  brought  into  the  work 
some  of  the  strongest  individual  helpers  known  to  the 
organization.  Mrs.  R.  E.  L.  Harris,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Richards, 
Mrs.  J.  F.  DeLacy,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Harris  Armor,  women 
whose  very  names  are  synonyms  for  unfaltering  loyalty. 
The  Superintendent  of  Literature,  Mrs.  Leila  A.  Dillard, 
had  sent  out  thousands  upon  thousands  of  pages  of 
literature.  Loyal  Temperance  Legions  were  everj^vhere 
being  organized  under  the  brilliant  leadership  of  Mrs. 
T.  E.  Patterson.  The  President,  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sib- 
ley, had  issued  from  the  platform  and  through  the 
press  the  war-cry  “Saloons  in  Georgia  must  go.”  The 
organization  had  begun  once  more  to  feel  its  footing 
upon  solid  rock. 

The  following  year  at  Eastman,  Georgia,  where  the 
Twenty-second  Convention  was  held  in  the  Methodist 
Church,  October  7-11,  1904,  great  enthusiasm  prevailed. 
Plans  were  laid  for  larger  and  more  aggressive  work. 
A new  enterprise  was  launched  in  the  establishment  of 
the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  Bulletin  as  a medium  of  com- 
munication between  the  laborers,  with  Mrs.  T.  E.  Patter- 
son as  Managing  Editor,  Mrs.  Marj^  Haris  Armor,  Assist- 
ant, IVIrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  Editor-in-Chief,  Mrs.  Leila 


203 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

A.  Dillard,  Mrs.  Thomas  Fason  and  Mrs.  J.  J.  Ansley, 
Corresponding  Editors.  The  Eastman  Union  alone  sub- 
scribed one  hundred  dollars  to  its  support  and  one 
hundred  and  nine  dollars  was  pledged  by  various  other 
Unions.  In  all  the  proceedings  there  was  a compelling 
earnestness  and  stirring  enthusiasm.  Mrs.  S.  M.  D.  Fry, 
National  Corresponding  Secretary,  who  was  present  as 
Convention  Speaker,  said  “No  one  could  attend  a ses- 
sion without  feeling  that  something  was  going  to  happen 
in  Georgia.” 

Just  at  this  juncture  when  the  hand  of  open  oppo- 
sition had  been  stayed  and  the  State  Union  re-enforced 
by  strong  helpers,  the  health  of  the  indefatigable  Presi- 
dent, Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  began  to  break  down 
physically  under  the  burden  of  arduous  labor.  Early 
in  1905  her  physicians  advised  absolute  rest  and  treat- 
ment. In  obedience  to  their  directions  she  left  the 
State  and  remained  for  several  months  at  Battle  Creek, 
Michigan  Sanitarium,  where  it  was  hoped  she  would 
sufficiently  recuperate  to  go  on  with  the  work,  but  the 
years  of  toil  had  wrought  their  task.  After  patiently 
waiting  it  was  deemed  unwise  for  her  to  continue  in  an 
office  which  involved  such  heavy  responsibilt5%  hence 
at  the  Twenty-fourth  Annual  Convention  held  in  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  Americus,  Georgia,  October  16-20, 
1905,  she  sent  in  her  resignation  and  Mrs.  Mary  Harris 
Armor,  of  Eastman,  Georgia,  who  had  served  as  Vice- 
President  for  two  years,  was  elected  to  the  Presidency. 

Mrs.  Armor,  as  speaker  and  presiding  officer,  had 
made  a profound  impression  upon  the  body  by  her 
remarkable  gifts  of  oratory  and  abundant  resources. 


History  of  the 


20lf 

Hoping  that  Mrs.  Sibley  would  at  the  last  moment  be 
able  to  send  her  Annual  Message  or  at  least  a brief 
word  in  parting,  she  had  not  prepared  an  address,  but 
when  the  hour  came,  delivered  perhaps  the  most  power- 
ful impromptu  speech  ever  given  in  the  history  of  the 
Union.  Her  hearers  were  filled  with  wonder  and  praise 
to  God  that  such  a woman  had  come  to  the  Kingdom 
at  such  a time.  Far  back  through  the  years  as  a tender 
girl  when  crushed  by  a bitter  grief,  standing  at  the 
grave  of  her  dearest  earthlj^  tie  and  strongest  arm,  she 
vovv^ed  a vo^v  as  deep  as  her  nature  and  as  sacred  as 
truth  to  give  her  life  to  the  overthrow  of  the  liquor 
traffic.  Her  election  to  the  Presidency  she  regarded  as 
God’s  way  of  enabling  her  to  fulfill  that  vow,  therefore 
she  threw  her  marvelous  energies  into  the  work  with 
such  resistless  force  that  the  incoming  tide  which  had 
already  begun  to  rise,  swept  ever^ihing  before  it. 
She  was  supported  by  a most  excellent  corps  of  officers. 
Mrs.  M.  H.  Edwards,  whose  sterling  worth  will  never  be 
known  until  the  last  day,  was  made  Corresponding 
Secretary  at  the  Americus  Convention  and  was  a resi- 
dent of  Mrs.  Armor’s  town,  Eastman,  Georgia.  Three 
other  important  offices,  Scientific  Temperance  Instruc- 
tion, Social  Meetings  and  Red  Letter  Days,  and  Unfer- 
mented Wine  at  the  Sacrament,  were  filled  by  members 
of  the  Eastman  Union — Mrs.  J.  F.  DeLacy,  Mrs.  E.  H, 
Bacon  and  Mrs.  T.  H.  Edwards.  Thus  Mrs.  Armor 
had  a sufficient  staff  at  her  side  to  call  a council  of  war 
any  day. 

Another  notable  woman  in  the  Georgia  W.  C. 
T.  U.  History  came  into  the  State  official  ranks  at  the 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  205 

Americus  Convention,  Miss  M.  Theresa  Griffin,  the 
present  Recording  Secretary  of  the  Georgia  Union. 
While  various  important  offices  have  been  filled  by 
this  queenly  White  Ribboner,  her  native  city,  Columbus, 
Georgia,  has  felt  most  the  power  of  her  great  influence. 
Tasks  impossible  to  others  have  been  wrought  by  her 
and  the  cause  given  a prestige  through  her  wise  plan- 
ning, gracious  words,  and  consecrated  spirit.  She 
dedicated  her  pen  to  the  interests  of  truth  and  from 
the  day  she  allied  herself  with  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  forces 
it  has  been  used  with  potency,  not  only  through  the 
press  of  her  own  city,  but  through  weekly  papers  in 
the  State.  Many  weeks  and  months  when  her  oculist 
forbade  the  use  of  her  eyes  she  steadily  toiled  on, 
writing  or  reading  a line  at  a time  or  dictating  her  work 
to  a secretary. 

While  God  was  seeking  the  first  born  among  men  to 
push  the  battle  at  home  He  sought  also  the  best  at  the 
National  to  come  to  Georgia’s  aid.  Those  who  attended 
the  Americus  Convention  and  followed  her  heroic  serv- 
ice from  the  mountains  to  the  seaboard,  know  how  well 
the  choice  was  made  in  the  high  priestess  of  womanli- 
ness— Mrs.  Nell  G.  Burger,  of  Missouri.  With  vigorous 
brain,  clear  and  strong,  gentle  bearing,  gracious  man- 
ner, musical  voice,  inimitable  tactfulness,  charming  per- 
sonality, she  brought  to  life  old  Unions  and  established 
new  ones  by  the  score.  At  the  Twenty-fourth  Annual 
Convention  held  at  LaGrange,  Georgia,  September 
25-26,  1906,  over  five  hundred  members  were  gained 
through  the  year,  almost  exclusively  through  Mrs.  Rur- 
ger’s  efforts  as  lecturer  and  organizer.  We  shall  never 


206 


History  of  the 

forget  the  holy  light  which  illuminated  her  face  as  she 
stood  before  the  body  assuring  them  that  God — the 
great  General  of  the  Universe  was  in  command  of  the 
Temperance  Army,  that  she  had  traversed  the  State 
and  everywhere  the  fire  was  burning  on  the  altar  of 
men’s  hearts  and  women  were  agonizing  for  deliver- 
ance from  the  saloon  curse.  That  the  signs  of  the  times 
indicated  that  in  less  than  three  years  Georgia  would 
be  redeemed  from  the  liquor  traffic.  As  Mrs.  Armor 
followed  with  a fiery  appeal  for  ceaseless  diligence  and 
heroic  work,  the  very  air  seemed  filled  with  the  pres- 
ence of  God  and  the  ear  of  faith  heard  the  shout  of 
victory. 

These  two  remarkable  women  had  so  inspired  the 
rank  and  file  as  to  make  1906  memorable  for  phenom- 
enal progress.  Particularly  did  there  seem  to  be  vested 
in  Mrs.  Armor  such  exhaustless  resources,  physically, 
mentally  and  spiritually,  that  her  comrades  recog- 
nized her  as  a gift  from  God,  commissioned 
by  Him  to  lead  the  hosts  in  a triumphant  march 
against  the  saloon.  In  view  of  her  tremendous 
power  as  a campaign  speaker,  of  the  fact  that  by  every 
token  God  was  calling  the  State  Union  to  go  up  at 
once  and  possess  the  land,  the  LaGrange  Convention 
after  her  first  year’s  service  as  President,  ordered  a 
salary  of  fifty  dollars  per  month  paid  from  the  treasury", 
that  she  might  be  free  to  give  her  time  exclusively  to 
the  cause.  As  it  was  announced  in  open  Convention 
that  the  Finance  Committee  had  so  recommended  and 
the  body  by  a rising  vote  unanimously  and  enthusias- 
tically ratified  the  action  of  the  Committee,  Mrs.  Armor 


207 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

arose  with  glowing  face,  her  voice  trembling  under 
fervid  emotion,  her  hand  extended  in  intense  earnest- 
ness, and  said:  “Dear  comrades  this  right  hand  shall 
be  given  to  God’s  cause,  this  heart’s  blood  poured  out 
upon  His  altars.  On  the  watch-tower  I will  stand  and 
never  lower  the  flag.  Death  may  come  but,  like  the 
brave  flag-bearer  on  the  field  of  battle,  who,  when 
struck  down  by  the  enemy,  whispered,  ‘I  am  dying 
but  hold  up  the  flag!’  I will  see  to  it  that  if  I fall  the 
flag  shall  never  go  down.”  The  French  army  was  not 
more  stirred  under  the  leadership  of  Joan  of  Arc  than 
were  the  women  of  that  body  by  this  fiery  utterance 
from  one  of  the  bravest  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
reformers  this  world  has  known.  A divine  courage 
came  upon  them  and  they  were  ready  to  dare  the  im- 
possible. Each  felt  that, 

“To  doubt  would  be  disloyalty, 

To  falter  would  be  sin.” 

This  Convention  seemed  to  beheld  upon  Mount  Pisgah, 
where  its  members  caught  a vision  of  the  promised 
Canaan.  The  consecrated  President  of  the  local  Union, 
Mrs.  Leila  A.  Dillard,  with  her  staff  of  faithful  officers, 
had  been  led  by  the  wisdom  which  comes  from  above, 
in  planning  every  detail  of  their  reception  for  the  large 
delegation.  Thus  with  a welcome  that  honored  God, 
the  members  of  the  body,  from  the  beginning  were 
inspired  to  do  their  best.  At  the  first  meeting — a con- 
secration service — led  by  Mrs.  J.  J.  Ansley,  the  windows 
of  heaven  were  opened  and  a flood-tide  of  God’s  love 
was  poured  in  upon  the  Convention.  The  faces  of 


208 


History  of  the 

many  of  the  women  were  transfigured  by  the  luminous 
light  of  the  Eternal.  Through  all  the  days  that  are  to 
come  there  will  be  fixed  in  memory  the  glowing  expres- 
sion of  Mrs.  Armor,  the  President;  Miss  Theresa  Grif- 
fin, the  Recording  Secretary;  Mrs.  J.  W.  Park,  the  Super- 
intendent of  Sunday  School  Work;  Mrs.  Charles  Morris, 
the  Superintendent  of  Penal  and  Reformatory'  Work; 
Mrs.  Nell  G.  Rurger,  National  Organizer;  Mrs.  L.  E. 
Farris,  State  Evangelist,  and  others  as  they  sat  under 
the  shadow  of  the  Almighty.  The  very-  place  was  holy 
ground.  After  the  service  Mrs.  Rurger  said  in  subdued 
tones:  “I  was  overcome  by  the  Spirit,  so  that  1 could 
not  speak.”  Who  wonders  that  God  thus  filled  her 
unutterably  full  of  His  glory,  after  the  hard  fought 
battles  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea,  which  she  had 
won  for  Him?  This  was  but  the  keymote  of  the  entire 
session.  God’s  gentle,  holy  Spirit  led  in  every'  service. 
The  toilers  had  reached  the  top  of  the  hill.  Difficulty, 
and  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  was  there  to  tell  them 
that  henceforth  they'  could  pursue  their  march  with 
increased  momentum,  and  the  sure  consciousness  of 
victory. 

Mrs.  Armor’s  rare  executive  ability  was  never  more  in 
evidence;  through  the  Convention  machinery'  and  her 
able  helpers  every  detail  of  business  was  not  only  care- 
fully considered  but  there  was  a spirit  of  quickened 
faith  in  their  own  resourcefulness  and  determined 
aggressiveness  unknown  informer  Conventions.  Poverty 
had  heretofore  seemed  to  make  them  tread  cautiously', 
but  to-day  the  unwavering  confidence  which  results 
from  the  assurance  of  “working  together  with  God” 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


209 


steadied  their  feet,  and  confirmed  their  hope  that  things 
mighty  would  be  brought  to  pass.  A typical  example  is 
found  in  a matter  which  came  up  for  action  in  an  exec- 
utive session.  Itwas  desired  that  the  daily  reports  should 
be  given  through  the  press  of  the  proceedings,  and  the 
question  was  sprung  as  to  whether  the  writer  should  be 
paid,  thus  enabling  the  Convention  to  command  the  best 
work.  To  this  Mrs.  Armor  replied;  “Certainly,  get 
the  best  reporter  and  pay  for  the  service,  the  Georgia 
W.  C.  T.  U.  is  no  beggar!”  Mrs.  Pope  Calloway,  of 
La  Grange,  Georgia,  was  engaged  and  sent  daily  reports 
to  the  Atlanta  Georgian.  The  Convention  was  richly 
compensated,  in  that,  a full  and  reliable  account  was 
written  of  the  deliberations,  thus  letting  the  liquor  traf- 
fic know,  throughout  the  State,  that  the  White  Ribbon 
Army  was  marching  with  quicker  pace  and  more  fiery 
zeal  than  at  any  time  in  its  history. 

Among  other  important  documents  which  were  pre- 
sented at  this  Convention  for  consideration  and  accept- 
ance, was  the  new  State  Charter.  In  1903  the  applica- 
tion was  made  through  the  President,  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart 
Sibley,  Judge  T.  E.  Patterson,  of  Griffin,  Georgia,  acting 
as  attorney  for  the  petitioners.* 

*See  Appendix. 


(14) 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


DEPARTMENT  WORK  UNDER  MRS.  ARMOR’s  ADMINISTRATION — 

ITS  DIRECT  AND  INDIRECT  INFLUENCE  UPON  PROHIBITION. 

True  freedom  is  to  share 

All  the  chains  our  brothers  wear, 

And  with  heart  and  hand  be 
Earnest  to  make  others  free. 

• — James  Russell  Lowell. 

While  the  hrilliant  qualities  of  Mrs.  Armor’s  leader- 
ship were  perhaps  never  surpassed  in  the  historj’^  of  any 
State  Union,  it  may  be  said  that  the  devotion  of  her 
otlicial  staff  was  never  excelled  and  rarely  equaled. 
The  tenth  legion  of  Julius  Caesar’s  army  was  not  more 
ready  to  dare  the  impossible.  When  orders  were  writ- 
ten or  telegraphed,  immediate  obedience  was  given. 

Mrs.  T.  E.  Patterson  and  later  Mrs.  Sarah  Poullain 
Campbell,  kept  the  Superintendents  of  departments 
with  the  rank  and  file  of  the  constituency  informed  on 
every  detail  of  the  work  mapped  out  by  the  chief  offi- 
cers through  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  Bulletin,  of  which 
they  were  editors,  covering  the  term  of  Mrs.  Armor’s 
administration.  Mrs.  J.  B.  Richards,  Superintendent  of 
Medical  Temperance,  sent  hundreds  of  pages  of  liter- 
ature over  the  State  giving  the  views  of  the  highest 
medical  authorities  on  alcohol  as  a medicine;  proving 
that  some  of  the  most  eminent  surgeons  and  practi- 
tioners of  the  present  day  have  discarded  alcoholic 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


211 


liquors  as  a remedial  agency  in  any  disease.  Mrs.  Rich- 
ards also  mailed  to  every  physician  in  the  State  a com- 
prehensive leaflet  setting  forth  the  opinions  of  anti- 
alcoholic  doctors  in  Europe  and  America.  Mrs.  John 
F.  DeLacy,  Superintendent  of  Scientific  Temperance 
Instruction  in  the  public  schools,  wrote  scores  upon 
scores  of  letters  to  teachers  in  Georgia,  inviting  their 
co-operation  in  having  thoroughly  and  systematically 
taught  in  the  public  schools  the  effect  of  alcohol  and 
other  narcotics  upon  the  human  system,  in  keeping 
with  Georgia’s  law  requiring  that  such  instruction  be 
given  all  grades  of  the  public  schools.  Mrs.  DeLacy, 
in  addition  to  carrying  on  a heavy  correspondence  with 
the  teachers  and  local  Superintendents  of  Scientific 
Temperance  Instruction  in  the  various  Unions,  spoke 
before  teachers’  institutes,  and,  through  the  State 
School  Commissioner,  secured  the  adoption  of  the 
authorized  text  books  in  Georgia,  giving  the  true  teach- 
ings of  science  on  alcohol.  Under  her  wise  and  zealous 
leadership  this  great  educational  department  was 
brought  to  the  highest  excellence  in  1906,  only  one 
other  department,  that  of  Literature,  under  the  Superin- 
tendency of  Mrs.  Leila  A.  Dillard,  reaching  the  same 
degree  of  success.  Mrs.  Dillard,  like  the  conquering  hero 
of  Maine,  sowed  Georgia  down  with  temperance  truth, 
and  at  each  Convention  she  was  so  well  informed  on  the 
literature  which  was  best  adapted  to  the  State  needs 
that  her  table  laden  with  all  sorts  of  leaflets,  books, 
and  periodicals  bearing  upon  the  temperance  reform, 
became  the  most  popular  rendezvous  with  the  body. 

Mrs.  Mary  McLendon,  Superintendent  of  Medal  Con- 


212 


History  of  the 

test,  stirred  the  local  Unions  of  the  State  to  the  import- 
ance of  using  this  powerful  educational  agency  in 
schools  and  churches.  She  said : “Many  anti-prohibition 
fathers  will  attend  a contest  where  ‘Marj^’  or 
‘Johnnie’  is  to  recite  when  they  could  not  be  induced 
to  hear  the  most  noted  temperance  lecturer.” 

Mrs.  L.  W.  Walker  sounded  a “long,  clear  call”  for 
Christians  to  “vote  as  they  prayed”  through  her  depart- 
ment of  Christian  Citizenship.  The  indefatigable  Mrs. 
Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  Superintendent  of  Legislation  and 
Petition, sent  out  thousands  of  petitions  relating  to  State 
and  National  legislation,  urging  the  Unions  to  secure 
signatures  and  return  them  to  the  proper  officials.  The 
saintly  Mrs.  C.  H.  Smith,  Superintendent  of  Mothers’ 
Meetings,  appealed  to  mothers  in  her  gentle,  inimitable 
way  to  enlist  their  children  in  the  White  Ribbon  Army. 
The  seventeen  County  Presidents  organized  new  Unions 
and  strengthened  the  work  at  every  point  possible. 
The  Young  Woman’s  Branch  and  Loyal  Temperance 
Legion,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  E.  P.  C.  Fowler 
and  Mrs.  T.  E.  Patterson,  made  a charge  through  a 
brigade  of  innocents  which  brought  the  enemy  to  fear 
and  tremble.  The  now  glorified  Mrs.  L.  E.  Farris,  at 
that  time  Superintendent  of  Evangelistic  Work,  wrote 
to  the  preachers  of  every  denomination  in  the  State 
endeavoring  to  secure  a pledge  on  their  part  to  preach 
at  least  one  sermon  annually  that  would  strengthen  the 
temperance  cause.  Mrs.  Charles  Morris,  with  apostolic 
fervor,  ministered  to  the  inmates  of  prisons  and  jails, 
Mrs.  M.  S.  A.  Webb  adding  her  benediction.  Mrs.  T.  H. 
Edwards,  through  her  department  of  Unfermented 


213 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  V. 

Wine  at  the  Sacrament,  sent  out  Bible  reasons  for 
rejecting  fermented  wine  at  the  Lord’s  table.  Mrs.  W. 
K.  Farmer,  under  Health  and  Heredity,  demonstrated 
how  children  are  injured  physically  and  mentally 
through  alcoholic  parentage.  Mrs.  J.  W.  Park,  of  the 
Sunday  School  Work,  mailed  large  quantities  of  litera- 
ture to  be  placed  through  local  Superintendents  in  the 
Sunday  Schools  of  every  church  and  used  as  collateral 
help  in  the  quarterly  temperance  lessons.  Mrs.  C.  K. 
Henderson  upheld  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  and 
showed  how  the  open  saloon  was  a chief  means  of 
desecrating  the  day  God  had  hallowed.  Mrs.  Emma 
Morse  Backus  turned  on  the  light  of  history  proving 
that  the  so-called  “high  art”  was  low,  heathen  art,  illy 
befitting  the  twentieth  century  Christian  civilization. 
She  pointed  out  how  the  “nude  in  art”  had  been  used  to 
degrade  the  dignity  of  womanhood  by  saloon-keepers. 
None  who  are  familiar  with  the  Atlanta  race  riot  of  1906 
will  ever  forget  the  fact  that  it  was  instigated  by  an 
exhibition  of  nude  pictures  in  the  low  dives  on  Decatur 
street  in  the  Capitol  city.  Thus  Mrs.  Backus  had 
legitimate  grounds  in  Georgia  to  warn  the  Christian 
women  against  the  two-fold  danger  of  alcoholic  liquors 
and  impurity  in  art. 

Mrs.  W.  A.  Sumter,  under  the  department  of  Peace 
and  Arbitration,  taught  the  beauty,  strength,  and  Christ- 
liness  of  peace  heroism.  She  showed  how  the 
nations  should  follow  the  Prince  of  Peace  and 
arbitrate  their  differences,  also  how  the  saloon  was 
a menace  to  peace  in  that  it  inflamed  the  passions 
of  men  and  hence  incited  them  to  war.  Mrs. 


History  of  the 


2U 

G.  P.  Gostin  held  aloft  the  banner  at  Fairs  and  Open 
Air  Meetings,  and  Mrs.  E.  H,  Bacon  stressed  the  im- 
portance of  Social  Meetings  and  Red  Letter  Days  as 
an  avenue  through  which  educative  programs  could  be 
given,  thus  reaching  a class  that  would  not  attend  a 
church  service.  Mrs.  Nettie  C.  Hall  lifted  the  fallen 
through  her  Christly  departments  of  Purity  and  Rescue 
Work;  at  the  same  time  pointing  out  how  essentially  the 
degredation  of  women  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  liquor 
traffic;  statistics  proving  that  in  almost  every  instance 
the  fall  of  a woman  is  accomplished  through  the 
influence  of  drink.  Mrs.  Glenn  Stovall  organized  Bands 
of  Mercy  to  teach  Georgia’s  children  the  spirit  of  Him 
who  “tempered  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb.”  Through 
this  heaven  inspired  branch  of  the  work,  after  investi- 
gation, it  was  proven  that  no  child  who  was  trained  in 
the  principles  of  mercy  to  dumb  animals  ever  grew  to 
be  a criminal.  It  was  also  shown  that  not  only  human 
beings  but  animals  of  a lower  order  suffered  at  the  hand 
of  a man  or  woman  infuriated  with  intoxicants. 

Dr.  Lillis  Wood  Starr,  under  that  all-important 
department — Anti-narcotics— taught  the  deadty  effects 
of  nicotine  in  tobacco  and  cigarettes,  the  ner^-e-destroy- 
ing  influence  of  Coca-Cola,  opium,  and  other  narcotics 
with  all  the  force  of  her  skillful  scientific  knowledge. 
Mrs.  W.  H.  Preston  went,  through  her  co-workers,  with 
the  gentle  ministry  of  flowers  into  countless  homes  of 
sorrow,  sickness,  and  death.  Dark  cells  of  crime  were 
visited  and  the  vilest  criminals  softened  under  the 
tender  grace  of  this — the  holiest  of  God’s  teachers — the 
flowers. 


215 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  rank  and  file  all  over 
Georgia  who  stood  in  unseen,  out-of-the-way  places, 
holding  the  fort  with  no  eye  but  God’s  upon  them? 
There  without  the  sound  of  trumpet,  or  blast  of  horn, 
they  set  themselves  to  the  task  of  lifting  the  heavy 
burden,  and  letting  the  oppressed  go  free.  Their 
names  are  legion,  and  are  written  in  the  Lamb’s  Book 
of  Life  in  letters  of  gold!  In  their  presence  we  stand 
with  uncovered  heads  and  covet  no  higher  privilege 
than  to  witness  their  imperishable  reward  at  the  right 
hand  of  His  majesty  on  high. 

The  value  of  these  direct  and  indirect  influences 
through  department  work  as  an  educative  force  in  the 
Georgia  prohibition  movement  cannot  be  estimated 
until  the  day  of  final  reckoning.  The  ceaseless  singing 
of  the  department  machinery  inspired  the  hosts  to 
march  with  steady  step  toward  the  camp  of  the  enemy. 

The  union  of  hearts  and  the  union  of  hands 
Made  irresistible  this  tireless,  toiling  band, 

Who  without  praise  or  without  price. 

Lifted  the  conquering  banner  of  Christ! 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


MRS.  armor’s  intensive  METHODS — HER  BRILLIANT  CAM- 
PAIGNING— W.  C.  T.  U.  BULLETIN  AS  A WEAPON  IN  THE 
BATTLE. 

Strike — for  your  altars  and  your  fires; 

Strike — for  the  green  graves  of  your  sires; 

God,  and  your  native  land. 

— Fitz-Greene  Halleck. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  conceive  of  greater  stress  or 
more  intensive  methods  than  were  used  by  Mrs.  Armor 
for  two  years  prior  to  the  culminating  victory  in  Geor- 
gia. In  her  report  for  1906  we  find  a record  of  twenty- 
three  public  addresses,  twenty-five  newspaper  articles, 
1,656  letters  written,  319  postals  and  1,703  miles  traveled 
in  interest  of  the  work.  In  1907  there  is  even  a greater 
degree  of  evidence  showing  the  most  strenuous  activi- 
ties. Six  institutes  were  held  at  strategic  points  in  as 
many  Congressional  Districts.  Under  her  direction 
thousands  of  envelopes  had  printed  upon  them  “125 
Dry  Counties  in  Georgia  Demand  State  Prohibition.” 
These  envelopes  were  used  by  friends  of  the  cause  as 
well  as  by  all  White  Ribboners.  They,  passing  through 
the  mails  were  silent  but  eloquent  pleaders  for  the  right 
of  the  majority  to  rule.  From  1906  to  1907  the  cam- 
paign work  in  Georgia  was  at  white  heat.  Into  this 
Mrs.  Armor  threw  her  marvelous  energies  with  a force 
and  continuance  that  will  ever  stand  as  a wonder  in 


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217 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

human  achievement.  She  not  only  went  in  rapid  suc- 
cession from  county  to  county  where  elections  were  to 
be  held  on  prohibition,  and  spoke  from  two  to  three 
times  daily  but  in  some  way  scarcely  to  be  understood, 
she  also  made  it  possible  to  keep  up  a heavy  correspond- 
ence relative  to  the  work.  One  of  her  most  effective 
methods  in  the  campaign  was  having  the  Unions  at 
different  centers  gather  for  prayer,  and  after  the  prayer 
for  direction  and  victory,  send  by  telegraph  passages  of 
God’s  word  which  she  read  before  the  multitudes  at  the 
polls.  These  passages  always  bearing  upon  promises  to 
the  faithful  and  fearless;  read  at  a supreme  moment 
they  were  thrilling  in  inspirational  power.  As  a typical 
instance  of  Mrs.  Armor’s  almost  child-like  faith  in  the 
midst  of  battle  we  give  in  her  own  words  what  she  saw 
and  felt  in  the  Lowndes  County  fight.  She  says : “The 
Lowndes  County  campaign  was  one  of  the  greatest 
battles  for  the  right  ever  fought  in  Georgia  or  any 
other  State.  The  magnificent  manhood  of  that  county 
has  proven  that  the  days  of  chivalry  are  not  passed. 
They  would  have  poured  out  their  blood  for  the  wives 
and  mothers  of  their  county  had  it  been  necessary.  The 
women  did  matchless  work.  Nothing  daunted  them, 
and  they  stood  like  a stone  wall  in  the  face  of  criticism 
and  even  threats,  serene  and  conquering.  I thank  God 
that  I had  the  privilege  of  being  among  them  the  last 
ten  days  of  the  fight,  and  for  the  blessedness  of  election 
day,  when  I felt  God  so  near  that  it  seemed  almost  as 
if  I could  reach  out  my  hand  and  touch  Him!” 

The  victory  in  Lowndes  County  is  so  characteristic 
of  scenes  and  methods  used  all  over  the  State  during  the 


218 


History  of  the 


early  part  of  1907  that  we  give  an  extract  from  a Val- 
dosta paper  dated  June  24th.  The  writer  says:  “The 
battle  here  against  saloons  presented  the  most  wonder- 
ful scene  ever  witnessed  in  this  town,  the  county — 
Lowndes — going  dry  four  to  one.  Two  brass  bands 
imported  to  play  for  the  liquor  people,  left  town  when 
they  saw  the  demonstration  by  fair  women  and  brave 
men  around  the  polls  at  sunrise.  The  songs,  prayers, 
and  tears  of  joy,  saloon  men  even  being  converted, 
were  too  much  for  them.  They  refused  to  play  and 
boarded  the  first  train.  Congratulations  are  being  read 
from  the  Court  House  steps  from  all  over  the  State 
amid  the  wildest  enthusiasm.  At  twelve  o’clock  it 
looked  like  a great  prohibition  landslide,  the  prohi- 
bitionists claiming  a majority  of  from  800  to  1,000  in  the 
county.  Following  a grand  rally  last  night  at  the 
theatre  many  workers,  male  and  female,  went  to  the 
church  and  remained  all  night  singing  and  praying.  A 
prayer-meeting  was  held  at  four  o’clock,  and  before 
six  o’clock  hundreds  of  ladies  and  workers  were  in  the 
Court  House  square  singing.  The  voters  marched  to 
the  polls  through  long  lines  of  women  and  children. 
The  children  waving  their  banners  bearing  temperance 
mottoes,  and  the  women,  with  glowing  faces,  appealing 
for  prohibition  votes.’’ 

By  this  time  the  counties  of  Earty,  Marion,  Decatur, 
Twiggs,  Grady  and  Bartow  had  rolled  up  a majority  for 
prohibition  and  Troup  and  Stewart  had  called  elections. 
Mrs.  Armor,  writing  from  Zwolle,  Louisiana,  whither  she 
had  gone  at  the  request  of  the  National  officers  fo  pre- 
side over  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  of  that  State, 


219 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

implores  the  women,  through  the  Bulletin,  to  let  their 
prayers  rise  “like  a fountain”  day  and  night  for  those 
two  counties.  The  State  was  absolutely  ablaze  with 
the  fires  of  moral  enthusiasm. 

As  an  instance  of  how  even  individual  hearts 
were  burning  for  the  cause  at  that  time  we  give  an 
incident  connected  with  the  organization  of  the 
Preston  Union.  One  morning  in  June  of  1907  a frail 
sewing  woman  called  at  the  Methodist  Parsonage. 
After  the  usual  greetings,  with  indescribable  earnest- 
ness written  in  her  face  she  said:  “Mrs.  Ansley, 
you  are  aware  that  I am  not  strong,  really  my  husband 
has  almost  positively  forbidden  me  continue  sewing 
owing  to  my  lack  of  strength,  but  without  his  knowl- 
edge— for  I did  not  want  to  give  anxiety — I have  ‘taken 
in’  enough  work  to  pay  your  fare  to  Preston  and  back 
that  you  may  go  there  with  me  and  organize  a Union. 
It  is  my  girlhood  home  and  God  has  so  rolled  the 
burden  of  the  town  and  county  upon  my  heart  that  I 
cannot  sleep.  Will  you  go?”  There  was  but  one 
answer.  As  soon  as  the  meeting  could  be  advertised 
we  went  and  were  received  with  open  arms  by  women 
who  had  been  praying  for  some  one  to  come  who  could 
organize  for  them.  When  we  reached  the  Methodist 
Church  where  the  service  was  held,  a large  crowd 
awaited  us.  The  gentleman  who  introduced  the 
speaker  said:  “My  friends,  I am  to-night  overcome 
by  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God.  We  of  Webster 
County  who  have  been  agonizing  for  help  and  deliver- 
ance from  the  curse  of  barrooms  are  beginning  to  hear 
the  voice  of  God  calling  us  to  action.  I do  not  under- 


220 


History  of  the 

stand  why  these  two  unofficial  women  from  a distant 
county  should  have  felt  a sufficient  interest  in  our 
welfare  to  leave  their  homes  and  come  uninvited  into 
our  midst  unless  God’s  own  hand  led  in  answer  to  our 
prayers.  We  praise  His  name  that  He  has  sent  them 
to  us.  Friends,  He  has  not  only  come  to  Webster 
County  but  He  has  come  to  every  county  in  the  State. 
I hear  His  footsteps  steady  and  strong  leading  us  to 
victory!”  Then  in  warmest  brotherliness  of  spirit  he 
turned  to  the  writer  and  prayed  heaven’s  benedictions 
upon  the  message  that  was  to  be  given.  At  the  close  of 
the  service  a Union  of  forty-seven  members  was  organ- 
ized and  the  power  of  the  Spirit  so  came  upon  the 
people  that  they  claimed  the  victory  by  faith  for  their 
county.  To-day  the  delicate  hand  and  frail  body  which 
made  the  formation  of  that  Union  possible  is  strong  in 
the  strength  of  Him  who  has  placed  her  at  His  right 
hand  forevermore!  What  jewels  this  gracious  and 
wonderful  cause  has  developed! 

One  of  the  mightiest  weapons  in  the  battle  of  1907 
was  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  Bulletin,  published 
monthly  at  Griffin,  Georgia,  under  the  managing 
editorship  of  Mrs.  T.  E.  Patterson.  Mrs.  Armor’s  letters 
from  the  firing  line  and  Mrs.  Pafferson’s  editorials  were 
as  firebrands  thrown  into  the  enemy’s  camp.  Their  red 
hot  messages  burnt  their  way  into  the  consciences  of 
the  people.  The  Superintendents  of  the  various 
departments  furnished  educative  matter  of  inestimable 
value.  Here  is  a sample  of  its  potency  as  a fighting 
agency  taken  from  the  June  Bulletin  of  1907 — a flam- 
ing ediforial  by  Mrs.  Armor  as  Edifor-in-Chief,  given 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


221 


under  the  heading:  “Women,  work!  As  if  on  your 
sole  arm  hung  victory!”  Mrs.  Patterson  follows  with 
a column  of  stirring  paragraphs,  thus  concluding: 

“Sure  the  final  victory; 

Sure  the  great  reward; 

Forward,  Georgia,  Forward, 

Battle  for  the  Lord!” 


Then  comes  a ringing  article  taken  from  The  Savan- 
nah Morning  News,  telling  of  the  775  Comfort  Bags 
made  under  the  direction  of  the  intrepid  Superintend- 
ent of  Soldiers  and  Sailors,  Miss  Haddie  Davis,  and  the 
women  of  the  local  Unions  to  be  sent  to  the  Jamestown 
Exposition  where  the  new  battleship  “Georgia”  was  in 
port,  in  which  these  articles  of  comfort  and  inspiration 
from  home  were  to  be  placed  for  the  use  of  our  brave 
boys  of  the  United  States  navy.  Each  bag  contained  a 
pledge  card,  a Testament,  a White  Ribbon  Songster,  a 
leaflet  on  Purity,  Temperance  and  Tobacco.  It  also 
contained  “A  Motherly  Letter”  wdth  needles,  thread, 
thimbles,  absorbent  cotton,  soft  cloth  for  bandages, 
court  plaster,  buttons,  scissors  and  various  other  little 
necessities.  In  another  column  we  find  reports  of 
enthusiastic  and  inspiring  Medal  Contests  held  at 
Eastman  and  McRae;  then  comes  the  Department 
Study  Programs,  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion  column. 
An  Earnest  Call  for  Aggression  Against  the  Mormon 
Evil,  Notes  from  the  President’s  Desk,  telling  of  vic- 
tories at  different  centers  of  the  State  and  urging  an 
onward  march  till  the  cause  is  triumphant. 


222 


History  of  the 

When  Mrs.  Patterson  resigned  as  editor  in  1907,  and 
Mrs.  Sarah  Poullian  Campbell  was  chosen  to  fill  the 
office,  the  Bulletin  was  kept  up  to  the  same  high  stand- 
ard as  a weapon  of  defense  and  medium  of  communi- 
cation for  the  constituency. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


STRENUOUS  ACTIVITY — MRS,  ARMOR’S  CAMPAIGN  WORK  CON- 
TINUED— UNION  OF  FORCES  WITH  ANTI-SALOON  LEAGUE — 
AUTHORS  OF  THE  PROHIBITION  BILL. 


I will  break  in  pieces  the  gates  of  brass  and  cut  in 
sunder  the  bars  of  iron. 


— Isa.  45:2. 


Recognizing  the  fact  that  the  battle  was  the  Lord’s 
and  the  utter  helplessness  of  an  arm  of  flesh  to  bring 
deliverance,  Mrs.  Armor  called  upon  the  women  in 
every  Union  to  observe  the  27th  day  of  April,  1907,  as  a 
season  of  fasting  and  prayer,  in  which  earnest  suppli- 
cation should  be  made  for  God’s  guidance  and  victori- 
ous help.  From  that  day  a conscious  power  came  upon 
the  women  enabling  them  to  work  and  pray  with  the 
victory  of  faith.  An  earnest  appeal  was  made  to  the 
ministers  of  the  gospel  in  every  denomination  to  preach 
a sermon  on  State  prohibition,  the  day  being  stipulated 
and  suggestive  texts  given.  This  request  was  enthusias- 
tically granted  and  many  of  the  preachers  throughout 
the  State  not  only  preached  this  special  sermon  but 
others  at  different  times  during  the  year,  prior  to  the 
meeting  of  the  Legislature.  Some  of  them  left  their 
charges  in  the  heat  of  the  campaign  and  spoke  for 
State  Prohibition  and  later,  when  the  cause  was  at  its 
crisis,  went  to  the  capital  city  and  worked  and  prayed 


224  History  of  the 

day  and  night  with  the  fiery  zeal  of  the  ancient 
prophets. 

Mrs.  Armor  prepared  and  had  printed  a large 
map  showing  the  wet  and  dry  counties  in  the  State  and 
sent  them  out  by  cart  loads  to  be  posted  in  every 
town  and  city,  at  stores,  school  houses,  post  offices, 
churches  and  other  public  places  in  the  public  eye. 
This  had  a powerful  effect  for  good,  the  counties  which 
out-lawed  the  liquor  traffic  were  as  white  as  the  driven 
snow,  and  the  wet  were  as  black  as  printers’  ink  could 
make  them.  They  became  a stirring  object  lesson  in 
patriotism.  No  good  man  enjoyed  the  picture  of  his 
own  county  with  a black  face,  however  small  the 
minority  who  stood  with  him  for  prohibition  he  knew 
that  God  would  help  him  to  make  his  county  white  if  he 
only  did  his  best,  hence  speakers  were  engaged  to 
address  the  people  in  wet  counties  and  literature  was 
sent  out  in  large  quantities. 

The  local  Unions  worked  like  the  women  of  the 
crusades,  prajdng,  singing,  serving  lunches  on  election 
days,  training  the  children  to  march  with  banners 
and  flags  for  prohibition.  Mrs.  Armor,  herself,  spoke 
with  the  patriotic  fervor  of  Patrick  Henr}^  becoming 
a veritable  flame  in  the  hands  of  God  to  tear  down 
the  strongholds  of  wickedness.  County  after  county 
went  dry  until  it  seemed  that  the  victory  in  Georgia 
would  be  won  by  counties  without  the  aid  of  the  Legis- 
lature— 130  out  of  137  at  that  time  in  the  State 
having  passed  the  prohibitory  law.  Mrs.  Leila  A. 
Dillard,  State  Superintendent  of  Literature,  sowed 
down  the  dry  territory  with  facts  showing  how 


MR.  FRED  L.  SEELY,  EDITOR  OF  “THE  GEORGIAN.” 

The  Only  Daily  Paper  in  Georgia  to  Espouse  the  Cause  of 
State-Wide  Prohibition. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


225 


impossible  it  was  to  enforce  the  law  against  the  sale  of 
liquor  and  keep  a healthful  public  sentiment  on  pro- 
hibition while  liquor  was  so  accessible  in  wet  counties, 
also  showing  the  subtle  delusion  of  the  dispensary  and 
license  evil. 

While  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  working  at  every 
center  of  the  State — the  Anti-Saloon  League — that  body 
of  princely  noblemen,  was  sending  out  speakers  and 
interviewing  Legislators,  sounding  their  principle  in 
order  to  secure  a set  of  men  in  the  General  Assembly  of 
1907  who  could  not  be  bought  at  any  price.  At  a 
joint  meeting  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  the  Anti-Saloon 
League  leaders  in  April,  Mrs.  Armor  spoke  with  such 
inspiring  confidence  on  the  point  of  carrying  State 
Prohibition  in  the  approaching  Legislature  and  pledged 
such  united  effort  for  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  with  the  Anti- 
Saloon  League,  that  it  was  resolved  to  undertake  it. 
When  it  was  known  that  this  plan  had  been  instituted 
by  those  two  great  organizations,  a wave  of  enthusiasm 
swept  over  the  State  like  a prairie  fire.  The  counties 
which  had  recently  gained  the  victory  threw  their 
strength  into  the  battle  with  the  greatest  intensity. 
Those  yet  struggling  with  the  liquor  traffic  welcomed 
the  plan  with  a shout,  knowing  that  if  prohibition  won 
in  the  State,  deliverance  for  them  was  sure. 

The  work  was  so  wisely  planned  and  judiciously 
executed  that  the  liquor  men  seemed  not  to  think 
seriously  of  the  situation.  So  many  heated  campaigns 
for  prohibition  in  the  State  had  failed  that  they  under- 
estimated Georgia’s  earnestness.  A majority  of  the 
men  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  House  were  invincible. 

(15) 


226 


History  of  the 

The  most  of  these  were  young  men,  brought  up  under 
the  regime  of  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction  in  the 
public  schools  and  Sunday  Schools  and  had  been  made 
free  by  a knowledge  of  the  truth  touching  the  poison 
of  alcohol.  Their  purpose  was  rooted  in  the  heart  of 
right.  They  had  laid  their  heads  upon  Georgia’s 
bosom  and  listened  to  the  heart-beats  of  her  wives  and 
mothers  who,  for  twenty-five  years,  had  wept  and  toiled 
and  prayed  for  deliverance.  Their  faces  were  set  like  a 
flint  and  their  resolves  as  unchangeable  as  the  fixed 
stars.  Like  Fred  L.  Seely — that  dauntless  Christian 
journalist,  who  laid  his  great  paper,  the  Atlanta  Geor- 
gian, upon  the  altar  for  prohibition,  they  were  there 
to  defend  the  snowy  badge  of  purity,  which,  through  all 
the  years  of  their  boyhood  they  had  seen  over  their 
mother’s  heart.  They  had  come  to  their  hour  for  which 
they  had  yearned  since,  as  lads,  they  bore  the 
banner  bearing  the  motto : “Tremble  King  Alcohol  for 
we  shall  grow  up !”  They  were  there  to  scorn  the  hand 
which  offered  a bribe,  and  hurl  from  their  j^resence  any 
crawling  coward  who  dared  to  place  at  their  feet  his 
blood-stained  gold  as  a price  for  their  convictions. 

Chief  among  this  noble  company  were  William  Jesse 
Neel,  William  Alonza  Covington  and  Lamartine  Grif- 
fith Hardman,  the  joint  authors  of  the  State  Prohibition 
Bill.  Far  back  through  the  years  the  golden-hearted 
Neel  had  heard  the  wdiisperings  of  conscience;  had  had 
the  stirrings  of  mighty  impulses.  In  Flow'd  and  Bar- 
tow Counties  he  had  poured  out  his  life-blood  for 
the  cause  and  now  came  to  deliver  his  State.  The 
heroic  and  manly  Covington,  who  stood  in  the 


HON.  WILLIAM  J.  NEEL. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  227 

heat  of  the  battle  as  calm  and  immovable  as  the  moun- 
tains which  gave  him  birth,  had  breathed  into  his  soul 
a purpose,  immutable  as  truth,  to  break  the  shackles 
which  bound  his  beloved  State.  These  two  brothers  of 
the  people  introduced  and  supported  the  bill  in  the 
House.  In  the  Senate  it  was  introduced  and  advocated 
by  Dr.  L.  G.  Hardman,  whose  record  as  a representative 
of  Jackson  County  for  six  consecutive  years  had 
brought  him  into  the  public  eye  as  a great  humani- 
tarian leader.  His  marked  wisdom,  and  distinguished 
ability,  led  the  forces  in  the  Senate  to  such  quick  success 
that  the  liquor  men  were  thrown  into  confusion. 

Not  until  the  bill  had  passed  the  Senate  by  the  fine 
majority  of  37  to  7 did  they  suppose  that  Georgia’s 
statesmen  meant  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  legalized 
saloon.  Hitherto  the  Senate  had  been  the  stronghold 
of  the  liquor  traffic,  where  well-nigh  all  temperance 
legislation  had  been  killed.  But  to-day  another  set  of 
men  were  there,  real  men  having  as  President,  the 
lamented  John  W.  Akin,  who  was  as  brave  as  Martin 
Luther  when  he  told  the  Diet  of  Worms  he  could  die 
but  not  retract  what  he  had  said  or  written.  The 
Senate’s  victory  caused  the  liquor  men  to  resort  to  their 
invariable  and  only  resource — blood-money.  From 
headquarters  was  telegraphed:  “One  million  to  defeat 
the  bill.”  But  what  was  a million  dollars  laid  at  the 
feet  of  such  men  as  Seaborn  Wright,  and  138  men  cast 
in  the  same  mould?  They  were  there  to  say  in  blister- 
ing scorn,  “Thy  money  perish  with  thee.”  They  had 
come  to  do  and  dare  and  die  if  need  be  for  Georgia. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


SCENES  IN  ATLANTA  IN  1907 — PROHIBITION  RALLIES — SUN- 
RISE PRAA'ER-MEETING — CROWDS  AT  THE  CAPITOL — WHITE 
RIBBONERS  CALM  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  STORM. 

Maintain  your  post:  That’s  all  the  fame  you  need. 

— Dryden. 

The  present  editor  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Bulletin  and  the  Recording  Secretary  of  the  State 
Union,  Miss  M.  Theresa  Griffin,  brings  our  readers 
under  tribute  to  her  care  in  the  preservation  of  a 
graphic  sketch  of  “Scenes  at  the  Capitol”  in  July,  1907, 
one  week  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  State  Prohibition 
Bill.  At  that  time  Miss  Griffin  was  on  the  Columbus 
Enquirer-Sun.  As  editor  of  the  Social  Department, 
she  gave  a thrilling  description  of  incidents  and 
“scenes”  in  Georgia’s  Capital.  As  has  been  stated  in 
another  chapter,  she  stood  at  Mrs.  Armor’s  side  during 
those  stormy  days  and  held  her  post  with  that  dignity, 
and  intense  devotion  which  glorifies  all  of  her  patriotic 
and  Christian  work.  We  will  let  Miss  Griffin  tell  the 
story  in  her  own  way. 

She  says:  “The  prohibition  movement  in  Georgia 
is  a general  uprising  of  all  the  people.  In  the  ‘rallies’ 
held  every  night  by  the  Anti-Saloon  League  of  Atlanta, 
to  hear  various  speakers,  in  the  sea  of  faces  one  could 
find  strange  contrasts.  The  capitalist,  the  motorman. 


229 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

the  grocer,  the  preacher,  the  cultured  woman,  the  foot- 
ball hero,  the  saleswoman,  the  seamstress,  the  bride, 
the  grandmother,  the  college  man;  every  phase  of 
humanity.  One  would  almost  exhaust  the  dictionary 
to  adequately  describe  them.  The  song  ‘Georgia’s 
going  dry’  when  the  first  note  was  struck,  would  sweep 
over,  catching  from  mouth  to  mouth  like  a prairie  fire, 
and  never  did  far-famed  giant  choruses,  trained  for 
months,  sing  with  the  time  and  tune  and  expres- 
sion as  did  these  multitudes.  At  the  Capitol  on  Wed- 
nesday the  dense  mass  was  of  the  same  heterogeneous 
description,  but  nearly  all,  with  the  exception  of  the 
thirty  odd  local  optionists  on  the  floor  of  the  House, 
wore  the  White  Ribbon.  Two  members  of  the  Atlanta 
W.  C.  T.  U.  sat  in  the  corridor  all  day  long  and  cut  and 
tied  ribbon  bows  yet  they  could  not  supply  them  fast 
enough  and  it  seemed  as  if  every  man  in  Atlanta  wanted 
one.  The  paper  filling  from  the  bolts  of  ribbon  rolled 
out  like  grist  from  a saw-mill  and  had  to  be  cleared 
away  by  a maid  with  a broom  every  little  while. 

“Mrs.  Armor,  the  noble  woman  who  leads  the  Geor- 
gia W.  C,  T.  U.,  spoke  on  Tuesday  night,  the  last  night 
of  the  campaign  of  two  weeks,  in  which  she  was  slated 
at  some  rally  every  night.  Her  address  was  one  of  the 
most  magnificent  we  have  ever  heard  and  at  the  end 
of  it  she  called  upon  the  women  to  meet  her  the  next 
morning  for  a sun-rise  prayer-meeting  at  the  church 
just  opposite  the  capitol.  At  four  o’clock  the  women 
rose  and  as  the  first  beams  of  morning  sun  shone  on 
that  day  their  prayers  and  songs  were  ascending  to  the 
throne  of  God.  Afterwards  many  returned  to  their 


230  History  of  the 

breakfast,  but  a little  band  followed  the  leader  to  the 
gallery  of  the  House  of  Representatives  where  she 
remained  fasting  until  eleven  o’clock  at  night  when 
the  galleries  were  cleared. 

“Never  was  there  such  an  exhibition  of  iron  endur- 
ance and  firm  self-control  as  was  shown  by  the  gallen,’ 
crowd  on  that  day.  It  was  all  the  more  remarkable 
because  before  the  House  convened,  from  six  o’clock, 
until  half  past  eight,  they  were  talking,  laughing  and 
singing  ‘Georgia’s  Going  Dry,’  and  many  feared  they 
would  become  so  excited  that  they  could  not  be  brought 
to  order.  In  the  midst  of  the  singing  a well-known 
leader  of  the  antis  came  in  and  his  indignation  was  ver\^ 
apparent  as  he  roamed  around  the  floor  of  the  House 
clinching  his  fists  and  shaking  his  head.  This  made  the 
men  in  the  galleries  sing  louder  and  the  women  laughed 
and  waved  the  little  flags  with  which  nearly  all  were 
provided.  But  at  about  a quarter  to  nine  the  songs 
ceased  and  every  flag  went  down  and  by  the  time  the 
speaker’s  gavel  fell  the  gallery  was  as  still  as  death. 
From  that  time  until  after  eleven  o’clock  at  night 
although  every  inch  of  space  was  packed  on  that 
extremely  hot  day,  not  a sound  was  heard  in  the 
gallery,  or  the  slightest  expression  of  approval  or  dis- 
approval. When  Seaborn  Wright  declared  while  he 
was  speaking  that  he  heard  a hiss  in  the  gallery. 
Speaker  Slaton  sent  up  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  to  dis- 
cover the  offender  and  it  is  said  that  two  whiskey  men 
slipped  out  just  before  the  Sergeant  reached  the  gallerj’ 
It  is  absolutely  certain  that  no  woman  hissed.  There 
were  only  a few  women  present  in  comparison  to  the 


231 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

hundreds  of  men  in  the  gallery  and  they  were  anxious 
to  keep  order  for  fear  that  they  would  be  put  out.  In 
our  opinion  this  self-control  in  the  gallery  would  never 
have  given  away  if  the  prohibition  leader  himself, 
Seaborn  Wright,  had  not  lost  patience  about  eleven 
o’clock  and  made  the  impassioned  speech  in  which 
he  voiced  the  pent-up  feelings  of  just  indignation  that 
had  raged  for  fourteen  hours.  Then  the  gallery  broke, 
and  the  roar  was  like  the  roar  of  the  sea — nothing  could 
quell  it.* 

“One  of  the  things  that  most  exasperated  the  prohibi- 
tion men  was  the  sarcasm  and  thinly  veiled  contempt 
with  which  many  of  the  whiskey  men  spoke  of  women 
as  a factor  in  this  contest.  Contrary  to  parliamentary 
usage  they  openly  addressed  the  galleries  with  vapid 
and  contemptuous  compliment,  ‘To  the  fair  ladies 
honoring  this  house  with  their  presence.’  Several  of 
them  were  beardless  boys  of  the  club-man  type  who 
played  the  game  of  filibustering  with  all  the  gayety  and 
abandon  of  school  boys  at  foot-ball.  They  laughed  and 
jeered  unabashed  by  the  grave  faces  of  bearded  men, 
some  of  them  battle-scarred  in  defense  of  their  country, 
or  the  solemn  eyes  of  gray-haired  women  whose  hearts 
were  full  of  prayer  that  Georgia  might  be  free.  Such 
provocation  so  long  continued,  was  sure  to  finally  attain 
its  object  in  ordering  the  galleries  closed. 

‘Mrs.  Armor  said  afterwards  that  she  had  prayed  all  day  that 
God  would  manifest  Himself  in  power  and  rehuke  the  enemies 
of  State  Prohibition  and  that  when  that  great  shout  of  the  people 
in  the  galleries  came,  she  took  it  as  an  answer,  for  then  the 
“voice  of  the  people  was  the  voice  of  God”  proving  to  the 
opposition  that  the  sentiment  behind  the  prohibition  law  was 
too  mighty  for  them  to  struggle  against. — [Editor.] 


232 


History  of  the 

“A  beautiful  incident  of  the  day  was  when  a big  box 
from  the  florist  was  delivered  to  the  pages  and  they 
went  quietly  through  the  House  putting  from  it  on  each 
desk  a fresh  white  rosebud  to  which  was  tied  with  white 
ribbon  a card  from  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  calling  on 
the  men  who  were  home-defenders  to  wear  them.  We 
felt  sorry  for  the  men  on  the  wrong  side  then.  They 
longed  to  claim  this  sweet  name  of  home  defenders; 
they  took  up  the  roses  and  read  the  card  and  then  laid 
them  down  again  to  wither  on  their  desks.  About  a 
hundred  and  twenty-five  of  them  were  gladly  pinned  on 
and  they  withered,  too,  in  that  long  hot  day,  but  they 
withered  on  the  breasts  of  true  and  gallant  Georgians 
who  thought  the  happiness  of  their  homes  more  val- 
uable than  a few  thousand  dollars  of  rum  revenue. 

“A  typical  picture  which  we  would  like  to  kodak, 
in  conclusion,  was  that  of  a barefooted  news-boy 
perched  on  top  of  a door  in  the  gallery,  his  chin  resting 
on  his  hands,  his  white  ribbon  on  his  breast  and  his 
eyes  eagerly  gazing  on  the  scene  below  so  far  distant 
from  him.  He  clung  like  a bat,  unconscious  of  dis- 
comfort and  it  seemed  to  us  that  he  embodied  the 
thought  that  the  boys  of  the  future  are  looking  to  the 
law-makers  of  to-day.” 

It  will  be  observed  that  Miss  Griffin  says  that  no 
woman  joined  in  the  hissing  of  anti-prohibitionists  in 
the  House  of  Representatives.  Mrs.  J.  F.  DeLacy,  at 
that  time  State  Superintendent  of  Scientific  Temper- 
ance Instruction,  who  was  in  the  gallery,  also  states 
that  the  women  were  the  last  to  join  in  the  wild  demon- 
stration of  contempt  for  the  filibusterers  of  the  opposi- 


HON.  L.  G.  HARDMAN, 

Joint  Author  of  the  Prohibition  Bill. 


233 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

tion.  These  historical  facts  are  in  perfect  accord  with 
the  wise  discretion  and  wonderful  self-command  which 
has  characterized  the  Georgia  White  Ribboners  since 
the  birth  of  the  State  Union.  Their  uniform  record 
has  been  calmness  under  provocation.  Notwithstand- 
ing that,  they,  in  this  instance,  were  grossly  assailed, 
as  Miss  Griffin  points  out,  yet  they  sat  in  silence,  endur- 
ing heat,  hunger  and  thirst.  Why?  They  had  “bread 
to  eat  that  the  world  knows  not  of,”  it  was  to  do  the 
will  of  Him  who  had  sent  them  there.  Their  heroic 
demeanor  said  to  their  critics:  “The  cup  which  the 
Father  hath  given  me,  shall  I not  drink  it?”  The  noble 
sons  of  Georgia,  when  they  listened  to  their  wives  and 
mothers  being  reviled  like  Peter,  were  ready  to  draw 
a sword,  but  the  women  with  their  Master’s  spirit, 
were  able  to  drink  the  cup  of  calumny,  not  answering 
a word. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  WHITE  RIBBONERS  AT  THE  CAPITOL — 
FILIBUSTERING  BY  ANTI-PROHIBITIONISTS — FINAL  VICTORY. 

When  the  enemy  shall  come  in  like  a flood,  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  shall  lift  up  a standard  against  hiui. 

— Isa.  59:19. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  the  fight  in  the  Legislature 
on  the  prohibitory  bill,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  opened  head- 
quarters at  the  Kimball  House.  The  President,  Mrs 
Mary  Harris  Armor,  with  many  of  her  official  staff,  were 
there,  among  them  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  Honorary' 
President;  Mrs.  T.  E.  Patterson,  Vice-President;  Miss  M. 
Theresa  Griffin,  Recording  Secretary;  Mrs.  W.  G.  Cot- 
ton, Assistant  Recording  Secretary;  Mrs.  John  F. 
DeLacy,  Superintendent  of  Scientific  Temperance 
Instruction;  Mrs.  W.  T.  Gautier,  Superintendent  of 
Parliamentary  Usage;  Mrs.  Laura  A.  Stovall  and  Mrs. 
Sarah  Poullain  Campbell,  of  Madison;  Mrs.  Mary  L. 
McLendon,  Superintendent  of  Medal  Contests;  and 
scores  of  officers  in  the  local  Unions  of  the  city.  These 
women  were  daily  sending  out  hundreds  of  letters  and 
telegrams, posting  the  people  of  Georgia  on  the  situation 
at  the  capital  and  inviting  them  to  send  petitions,  tele- 
grams and  letters  in  interest  of  the  bill.  The  State  not 
only  responded  grandly  to  the  request  but  many  came  in 
person  and  mailed  checks  to  the  President,  Mrs.  Armor, 


235 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  campaign.  Daily  the  galleries 
in  the  capital  were  crowded  with  eager  men  and  women 
wearing  the  white  ribbon.  The  desks  of  the  Representa- 
tives were  loaded  with  letters,  telegrams  and  petitions 
which  came  in  on  every  train.  At  night  great  mass-meet- 
ings were  held  at  different  sections  of  the  city  and  going 
out  as  far  as  twelve  miles  distant.  These  were  addressed 
by  Mrs.  Armor  and  representatives  of  the  Anti-Saloon 
League,  the  crowds  increasing  and  the  enthusiasm 
spreading. 

Under  this  high  pressure  the  liquor  men  were 
driven  into  a corner  and  acknowledged  that  “the 
bill  would  be  bound  to  pass;”  hence  July  22nd  was  set 
for  it  to  go  through.  When  this  news  flashed  over  the 
wires  Georgia  was  jubilant  with  praise  and  her  people 
began  to  pour  into  the  city  to  witness  the  victory.  On 
July  21st  the  liquor  men  had  brought  all  their  power  to 
bear  and  succeeded  in  securing  in  the  House 
enough  votes  (one-fifth)  with  the  aid  of  the  liquor 
Chairman,  to  call  for  the  yeas  and  nayes,  and  de- 
manded of  the  prohibitionists  that  they  allow  the  bill 
to  be  so  amended  as  to  go  into  effect  the  first  of  January, 
1909,  instead  of  the  same  date,  1908.  The  prohibition- 
ists stood  like  granite  rock  and  said  “No,  gentlemen, 
we  will  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  of  this 
and  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature  to  do  it.”  The 
Anti-Prohibitionists  became  violently  antagonistic  and 
declared  that  they  would  filibuster  through  the  whole 
session  and  not  allow  the  bill  to  come  to  a vote  and 
moreover  would  fill  the  galleries  the  next  day  (which 
had  been  set  for  the  consideration  of  the  bill),  with 


236 


History  of  the 


their  friends  before  the  prohibitionists  reached  the 
House.  The  prohibition  leaders  sent  a message 
touching  the  situation  to  the  President  of  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.,  who  called  a sun-rise  prayer-meeting  to  be  held 
at  the  Baptist  Church  (of  which  Dr.  John  E.  White  was 
pastor)  just  across  the  street  from  the  capitol.  The 
Spirit  of  God  so  came  upon  that  ser\dce  that  the  White 
Ribboners  marched  from  there  to  the  capitol  singing 
in  the  victory  of  faith  and  before  seven  o’clock  had  so 
packed  the  galleries  that  there  was  hardly  room  for  the 
sole  of  a liquor  man’s  foot.  While  waiting  for  the 
members  of  the  House  to  assemble,  they  waved  their 
flags  and  handkerchiefs  as  they  sang  “America,”  “How 
Firm  a Foundation,”  “Bringing  in  the  Sheaves”  to  the 
chorus  “Georgia’s  going  dry,  pass  along  the  watchword, 
Georgia’s  going  dry!” 

This  continued  until  the  Speaker’s  gavel  fell  calling 
the  House  to  order,  when  perfect  silence  reigned  in 
obedience  to  the  rules  of  the  body.  Then  followed  for 
thirteen  hours  and  fifty-three  minutes  the  most  sense- 
less filibuster  known  to  Georgia’s  history.  The  galler- 
ies and  the  corridors  were  filled  with  the  best  people 
of  the  State.  Those  in  the  gallery,  chiefly  White  Ribbon 
women  with  their  fathers,  husbands  and  sons,  sat  there 
from  6:30  in  the  morning  till  eleven  at  night,  without 
food  or  even  water  save  once,  the  thermometer  in  the 
nineties,  and  listened  to  God’s  ministers,  God’s  word, 
and  the  wives  and  mothers  of  Georgia  ridiculed  by  the 
liquor  men  under  the  pretext  of  explaining  their  votes. 
The  Anti-Prohibitionists  had  the  yeas  and  nays  called 
for  every  conceivable  and  well-nigh  inconceivable 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


237 


question,  until  the  proceedings  became  such  a farce  as 
to  provoke  laughter  from  their  own  men.  They  utterly 
disregarded  the  rules  of  the  House  which  allowed  only 
three  minutes  for  each  member  to  explain  his  vote 
and  confine  himself  exclusively  to  that  point.  Instead 
of  so  doing  they  took  all  the  time  they  desired  and 
spoke  on  any  subject,  however  irrelevant.  The  Speaker 
of  the  House,  who  was  an  enthusiastic  liquor  man, 
allowed  this  disorder  to  continue  until  the  people  were 
burning  with  indignation  and  feeling  the  deepest  sense 
of  injustice,  though  holding  themselves  down  through 
respect  to  law  and  decorum. 

At  eleven  o’clock,  one  hour  before  the  House  had  to 
adjourn,  a liquor  man  made  a speech  of  unusual 
indignity  and  the  Anti-Prohibitionists  raised  a shout 
of  applause.  The  next  man  called  was  Seaborn 
Wright,  the  glorious  champion  of  civic  righteousness 
from  his  youth  and  the  eloquent  leader  of  the  prohi- 
bition forces  in  the  House.  He  sprang  to  his  feet 
with  his  eyes  flashing  fire — turning  to  his  prohibition 
colleagues,  he  said:  “I  beseech  you  to  maintain  the 
dignity  and  order  which  you  have  throughout  this 
trying  day;”  then  turning  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House, 
he  said:  “Sir,  I would  like  to  know  if  you  are  as 
helpless  as  a child  that  you  have  allowed  this  dis- 
graceful performance  to  continue  all  day  and” — 
his  voice  was  lost  in  a mighty  chorus  as  a man  in  the 
gallery  cried,  “Hurrah  for  Seab  Wright.”  It  was  like 
dropping  a lighted  match  into  a magazine  of  powder. 
The  great  throng  began  to  shout,  “Hurrah  for  Seab 
Wright!”  “Hurrah  for  Judge  Covington!”  “Hurrah 


238  History  of  the 

for  Dr.  Hardman!”  “Hurrah  for  State  Prohibition!” 
The  Speaker  rapped  furiously  for  order  and  cried,  “Put 
them  out!”  “Put  them  out!”  And  the  people  shouted 
back,  “Yes,  put  us  out  if  you  wish,  we  will  have  to  go 
out  at  twelve  o’clock  anyhow.” 

This  “no  uncertain  sound”  coming  from  Georgia’s 
best  citizens  let  the  filibusterers  know  that  they  were 
driven  to  yield,  hence  an  agreement  was  made  that  on 
July  30th,  if  the  galleries  were  closed  to  the  public  and 
no  demonstration  allowed  till  the  bill  was  passed,  they 
would  quietly  allow  it  to  go  through.  When  the  day 
arrived  the  galleries  were  empty  according  to  the 
pledge  but  in  the  corridors  and  grounds  about  the  capi- 
tol  there  was  a surging  mass  of  humanity.  White  rib- 
bon was  fluttering  everj’Avhere.  The  Fulton  County  W. 
C.  T.  U.  served  lunches  all  day  in  the  corridors  just 
outside  of  the  Hall  of  Representatives.  The  liquor  men 
offered  thirteen  amendments  which  were  voted  down 
as  quickly  as  they  were  reached.  About  eight  o’clock 
a message  filtered  through  the  doors  to  the  praying 
White  Ribboners,  that  the  vote  had  begun  on  the  bill; 
instantly  the  wildest  enthusiasm  prevailed  though  no 
demonstration  was  made  according  to  promise.  There 
was  a call  for  Mrs.  Armor  and  when  she  was  found  the 
crowd  gathered  about  her  and  said : “We  are  going  to 
march  to  Henry  Gradj^’s  monument  and  hold  a jubilee 
as  soon  as  the  bill  is  passed  and  we  want  you  to  head 
the  procession.”  Mrs.  Armor  enthusiastically  agreed, 
stood  in  the  door  of  the  capitol  while  the  crowd  formed 
a line  by  two  and  two.  As  she  stood  there  with  radiant 
face,  quivering  with  unspeakable  emotion,  a policeman 


HON.  WILLIAM  A.  COVINGTON. 
Joint  Author  of  the  Prohibition  Bill. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


239 


approached  and  said,  “Mrs.  Armor,  would  you  accept 
a mounted  escort  to  the  monument?”  “Yes,”  she 
replied,  “this  is  our  day  and  we  will  take  all  that  is 
coming  to  us!”  In  a few  minutes  he  had  the  mounted 
police  on  the  grounds  to  escort  Georgia’s  prohibition 
army  in  triumph  through  the  streets.  Suddenly  word 
flashed  down  the  line:  “92  votes;  the  bill  is  safe,”  but 
they  had  pledged  to  keep  quiet  until  the  voting  was 
over  and  there  they  stood  holding  their  breath  in 
intense  eagerness  for  the  end  to  come.  In  a few 
moments  the  official  announcement  was  made:  “The 
bill  is  passed  by  a vote  of  139  to  39.” 

The  scene  was  indescribable — grown  men  sobbed  like 
children,  women  threw  themselves  into  each  others 
arms  weeping — bells  rang,  horns  blew,  whistles  scream- 
ed. The  great  crowd  marched  through  the  streets  in 
orderly  procession  and  in  a few  minutes  were  a multi- 
tude whom  no  man  could  number.  Laughing,  crying, 
singing,  shouting,  rejoicing  with  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory,  they  swept  on  till  Henry  Grady’s  monu- 
ment was  reached,  where  speeches  were  made  by  W.  D. 
Upshaw,  Mrs.  Mary  Harris  Armor,  J.  L.  Knight,  James  L. 
Mayson  and  Seaborn  Wright.  The  last  burst  of  fervid 
eloquence  was  made  by  a little  news-boy  who  cried  at 
the  top  of  his  voice : “Good-by  booze ! Georgia’s  gone 
dry!”  From  the  monument  they  marched  to  the  office 
of  the  Atlanta  Georgian  to  stand  uncovered  before  the 
noble  Fred  Seely  and  John  Temple  Graves,  who  had 
fought  so  valiantly  and  brilliantly  for  Georgia’s  fire- 
sides; from  there  to  the  executive  mansion  where  they 
were  warmly  greeted  by  Governor  Hoke  Smith,  who 


2W 


History  of  the 

said,  “I  know  what  has  brought  you  here,  my  friends, 
I understand  your  feeling  and  enthusiasm  and  want  to 
assure  you  that  my  signature  will  be  affixed  to  the  bill 
the  moment  it  reaches  me.  I wish  to  say  further  that 
I shall  exhaust  every  resource  of  the  executive  power 
to  see  that  the  law  is  enforced  when  it  is  placed  on  the 
statute  books.” 

Thus  closed  one  of  the  most  eventful  days  in  the 
history  of  the  State,  making  a record  which  shall  shine 
as  the  stars  forever! 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


THE  JUBILEE  CONVENTION  AT  COLUMBUS,  OCTOBER,  1907 — 
MRS.  STEVENS,  MISS  GORDON,  MISS  RENA  E.  G.  MOSHER 
PRESENT — NATIONAL  CONVENTION  AT  NASHVILLE,  NOVEM- 
BER, 1907 — MRS.  armor’s  great  speech,  “how  GEORGIA 
WENT  dry” — HER  EIGHT  THOUSAND  DOLLAR  COLLECTION. 

The  bravest  battle  that  was  ever  fought? 

Shall  I tell  you  where  and  when? 

On  the  maps  of  the  world,  you  will  find  it  not 
’Twas  fought  by  the  mothers  of  men. 

Nay,  not  with  the  cannon  or  battle  shot. 

With  a sword  or  nobler  pen; 

Nay,  not  with  words  or  eloquent  thought 
From  mouths  of  wonderful  men! 

But  deep  in  the  walled-up  woman’s  heart 
Of  a woman  that  would  not  yield, 

But  bravely,  silently  bore  her  part. 

Lo,  there  is  that  battle  field! 

— Joaquin  Miller. 

After  the  triumphant  shout  had  gone  up  from  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land  over  Georgia’s  victory; 
after  twenty-five  years  of  toil  and  many  defeats;  after 
the  cause  that  would  not  die,  had  risen  in  the  matchless 
strength  of  a liberty-loving  people  and  conquered  every 
foe,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  women  of  the  State 
Union  should  hold  a “Jubilee  Convention.”  Mrs.  Ar- 
mor planned,  prayed,  wrote  and  telegraphed  until  she 

had  gotten  together  the  cream  of  all  the  churches 

(16) 


2l^2  History  of  the 

to  join  in  this  great  convocation  in  praise  to  God  for 
His  boundless  mercy  in  delivering  His  people  from  the 
curse  of  the  open  saloon. 

The  auditorium  of  the  St.  Luke  Methodist  Church,  of 
Columbus,  Georgia,  where  the  convention  was  held, 
October  22-25, 1907,  was  tilled  at  the  evening  hours  to  its 
uttermost  capacity,  and  the  day  sessions  also  were 
largely  attended  by  the  residents  of  the  city.  Prohibi- 
tion was  in  the  atmosphere  and  few  could  remain  at 
home.  One  gentleman  remarked,  that  if  he  went  into 
the  church  opposed  to  the  principles  espoused  by  the 
White  Ribboners,  he  came  out  an  advocate,  so  powerful 
was  the  influence  of  the  body  upon  auditors. 

Mrs.  Armor,  with  the  vision  of  a prophet,  recognized 
the  strength  and  vigilance  of  the  enemy  to  such  a 
degree,  that  even  at  that  early  hour,  she  began  to  build 
breast-works  against  his  encroachment.  With  this 
purpose  in  view,  she  called  upon  Mrs.  L.  M.  N.  Stevens, 
the  National  President  of  the  Woman’s  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union,  and  President  of  the  Maine  W.  C.  T.  U. 
to  be  present.  Mrs.  Stevens’  long  residence  in  Portland, 
Maine,  had  given  her  large  opportunity  to  study  the 
tactics  of  the  liquor  men  where  a prohibitory  law  had 
been  upon  the  statute  books  for  more  than  fifty  years. 
She  had  passed  through  many  battles  and  had  con- 
quered at  every  point,  hence  she,  above  all  others,  was 
the  one  to  come  to  Georgia,  and  to  this  Convention. 
She  came  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  and  with  all  the 
logic  and  eloquence  of  a statesman,  portrayed  the  subtle 
deception  the  liquor  traffic  would  use  to  secure  the 
repeal  of  Georgia’s  law.  She  warned  the  women 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


2^3 


against  resting  on  their  victory.  She  said:  “Before 
the  ink  which  signed  j^our  prohibitory  bill  was  scarcely 
dry,  I dare  say,  the  liquor  forces  were  laying  plans  to 
undermine  its  strength.”  She  declared  that  the  real 
battle  in  Georgia  had  just  begun,  and  exhorted  the 
women  to  arm  themselves  with  the  best  literature,  the 
best  speakers,  the  thorough  and  intelligent  working  of 
the  educational  departments,  such  as  Scientific  Tem- 
perance Instruction,  Loyal  Temperance  Legion  and 
Sunday  School  Work.  She  bade  them  be  brave  in  their 
effort  to  see  that  the  law  is  enforced.  Said  she:  “Many 
times  have  I driven  ‘Madge,’  my  faithful  temperance 
horse  to  liquor  dens  and  secured  evidence  which  en- 
abled the  officers  to  close  them  up.  You,  women  of 
Georgia,  do  not  hesitate  to  do  this  where  it  is  necessary. 
There  is  nothing  unlady-like  in  protecting  your  home 
against  so  foul  an  invader.” 

While  Mrs.  Stevens  came  to  this  Convention  as  the 
exponent  of  Maine’s  methods  of  enforcing  her  prohibi- 
tory law.  Miss  Anna  A.  Gordon,  the  Vice-President  of 
the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  World’s  Secretary  of  the 
Loyal  Temperance  Legion,  came  as  an  inspirer  of  the 
Children’s  Crusade  against  a laxity  of  public  senti- 
ment on  law  enforcement.  At  an  evening  hour  she  gave 
a strong  address  which  demonstrated  the  far-reaching 
influence  of  a child  in  the  home  and  the  impossibility 
of  non-law-enforcement  where  a generation  of  voters 
had  been  trained  to  correct  thinking.  On  Loj^al  Tem- 
perance Legion  Night,  while  two  hundred  and  fifty 
children  marched  into  the  church  and  presented 
“Georgia’s  Call”  for  National  Prohibition  with  their 


244 


History  of  the 


songs,  banners  and  rally  cries.  Miss  Gordon  sat  among 
them  as  a queen  enthroned.  Her  gentleness  of  manner 
and  inborn  love  for  children,  which  glowed  in  ever> 
line  of  her  countenance,  illuminated  the  scene.  As  she 
resumed  her  seat  after  her  address  had  been  given,  Mrs. 
Jennie  Hart  Sibley  fastened  about  her  neck  an  exquisite 
chain  as  a souvenir  of  the  “Jubilee  Convention,”  and 
Mrs.  T.  E.  Patterson,  at  that  time  Vice-President  of  the 
State  Union,  and  Secretary  of  the  Loyal  Temperance 
Legion,  stepped  to  the  rear  of  Miss  Gordon  and  grace- 
fully threw  over  her  head  a string  of  two  hundred  and 
ten  one-dollar  bills,  representing  eight  hundred  and 
forty  subscriptions  to  the  Young  Crusader,  the  official 
organ  of  the  L.  T.  L.,  of  which  Miss  Gordon  is  Editor- 
in-Chief.  A great  wave  of  enthusiasm  swept  over  the 
crowd  and  the  audience  could  not  refrain  from  vigor- 
ous hand-clapping.  As  the  children  filed  out  of  the 
chancel,  each  throwing  into  Miss  Gordon’s  lap,  a rose- 
bud, typical  of  their  relation  to  the  work,  the  people 
were  thrilled  with  the  power  of  organized  innocence. 

Another  distinguished  visitor.  Miss  Rena  E.  G.  Mosher, 
afterward  National  Superintendent  of  the  “Y”  branch, 
was  present  and  delivered  an  able  address  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  “Y”’  and  Grand  Gold  Medal  Contest. 

While  these  strong  women  from  the  National  gave  of 
their  best,  Mrs.  Armor,  Georgia’s  President,  was  indeed 
at  her  best.  The  magnificent  fullness  of  a great  char- 
acter cannot  be  seen  until  an  occasion  arises  which  de- 
velops it.  Thus  it  required  the  largeness  of  this  historic 
Convention  to  fit  the  largeness  of  Mrs.  Armor’s  endow- 
ments. The  women  caught  a vision  of  her  masterful 


245 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

command  of  every  situation.  Nothing  arose  but  she 
seemed  superior  to  it.  A leading  physician  of  the  Statt 
in  writing  to  the  Wesleyan  Christian  Advocate,  after  the 
Convention  said  he  was  profoundly  impressed  with 
many  features.  “The  zeal  and  devotion  of  the  body, 
the  intelligent  dispatch  of  business,  the  eager,  wide- 
awakeness  to  learn  anything  that  would  advance  the 
cause,  the  spirit  of  loyalty  and  love  which  pervaded  the 
atmosphere,  the  commanding  personel  and  strong  in- 
dividuality of  the  speakers,  but,”  he  said,  “there  was  one 
outstanding  star  above  all  the  others,  the  brilliant  gen- 
ius of  Mrs.  Mary  Harris  Armor,  the  President  of  the 
Convention.”  If  this  eloquent  tribute  had  been  paid 
in  open  session,  every  member  would  have  sprung  to 
her  feet  and  given  assent  to  the  Chautauqua  Salute 
and  White  Ribbon  Cheer,  for  the  women  of  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  were  not  more  devoted  to  their  immortal 
leader,  Frances  E.  Willard,  than  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T. 
U.  were  to  Mary  Harris  Armor.  On  “Welcome  Night” 
when  her  annual  message  was  delivered,  instead  of 
following  the  beaten  track,  giving  the  conventional,  and 
we  might  say,  stereotyped  address  on  the  status  of  the 
work,  with  a review  of  the  various  departments,  includ- 
ing recommendations,  looking  to  the  advancement,  she 
gave  a brilliant  utterance,  burning  with  the  fires  of 
conviction  on  “Prohibition,  and  How  to  Enforce  It.” 
This  was  typical  of  her  great  individuality.  She  had 
the  vision  and  the  courage  to  rise  above  form  and  the 
strength  to  break  away  from  custom  when  it  clashed 
with  duty.  At  the  close  of  the  service  hundreds  rushed 
to  her  side  and  gave  assurance  of  loyalty  to  the  cause 


246  History  of  the 

and  expressing  gratitude  for  the  inspiration  of  her 
message. 

On  “Jubilee  Night”  a sea  of  faces,  glov.dng  with  the 
joy  of  victory,  made  a picture  never  to  be  forgotten. 
The  large  auditorium  of  St.  Luke  Church  was  literally 
packed.  White  ribbon  and  banners  were  everwhere 
in  evidence,  the  great  flag  of  Georgia,  especially  loaned 
for  the  occasion  by  the  authorities  at  the  State  House  in 
Atlanta,  being  conspicuously  draped  in  the  center,  back 
of  the  pulpit.  At  the  opening  of  the  service  the  great 
audience  joined  in  singing: 

“Georgia  has  gone  dry, 

Georgia  has  gone  dry. 

Praise  the  Lord  who  helped  us, 

Georgia  has  gone  dry!” 

As  this  mighty  wave  of  song  arose  from  that  great 
multitude,  there  was  a mingled  feeling  of  power, 
pathos,  gratitude  and  triumph,  that  no  words  can  de- 
scribe. Some  were  weeping,  others  smiling,  while  still 
others  sat  with  the  light  of  conquering  victory  in  their 
faces.  Gray-haired  heroines  who  had  climbed  the 
rugged  path  for  twenty-five  years  were  trembling  with 
emotion.  God  was  there  owning  their  labors  and 
speaking  to  their  hearts.  They  had  lived  to  see  the 
seed  they  sowed  in  tears  come  to  glorious  fruitage. 
Twenty-three  years  ago  they  had  met  in  the  same  city, 
in  the  same  church  with  scarcely  a handful  at  their 
side,  without  means  or  prestige,  their  President  (God 
bless  her)  ridiculed  for  extreme  and  “fanatical”  views. 
To-day  they  saw  their  chief  executive  an  uncrowned 


247 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 

queen,  and  the  treasury  receiving  from  eighty  Unions, 
through  thirty- two  departments,  $3,134.88,  in  a single 
year,  more  than  they  collected  in  ten  of  the  first  years. 
As  these  jewels  of  a glorious  past,  set  their  faces  home- 
ward, they  heard  ringing  in  their  ears  the  words  of  the 
Scriptures:  “Behold!  What  hath  God  wrought?” 

On  November  8-13,  1907,  following  the  “Jubilee  Con- 
vention,” the  National  Convention  was  held  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Nashville,  Tennessee.  Georgia 
never  had  a warmer  welcome,  for  all  wanted  to  hear 
how  her  victory  was  won.  Mrs.  Armor  inspired  the 
largest  delegation  to  attend  that  had  ever  gone  front 
the  State.  The  following  members  of  the  “Jubilee  Con- 
vention” were  elected  to  represent  Georgia  and  accom- 
pany Mrs.  Armor:  Mrs.  W.  T.  Gautier,  of  the  Colum- 
bus Union;  Mrs.  J.  F.  DeLacy,  of  the  Eastman  Union; 
Mrs.  M.  L.  McLendon,  of  the  Atlanta  Willard;  Mrs.  W. 
A.  Sumter,  of  the  Albany  Union;  Mrs.  G.  A.  Cochrane, 
of  the  Atlanta  Willard;  Mrs.  W.  G.  Cotton,  of  the 
Columbus  Union,  and  Mrs.  J.  J.  Ansley,  of  the  Buena 
Vista  Union.  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  Honorary 
President;  Mrs.  T.  E.  Patterson,  Vice-President,  and 
many  visitors  joined  the  party.  Never  were  joys  season- 
ed higher  as  they  steamed  along  the  way  and  reached 
Nashville,  where  Mrs.  Armor,  who  had  gone  in  advance 
of  the  full  delegation  to  meet  the  National  Executive 
Committee,  met  them  at  the  station  with  glowing  face 
and  open  arms.  As  her  Georgia  comrades  gathered 
about  her,  she  turned  to  the  local  committee  and  asked 
with  rapturous  enthusiasm:  “Don’t  you  think  our 
Georgia  women  look  well?”  Of  course  there  was  a 


248 


History  of  the 

unanimous  affirmative  answer,  for  it  was  Georgia’s  day. 
“Come  right  on,”  Mrs.  Armor  said,  as  she  made  a path 
through  the  crowd,  “Georgia  is  placed  in  the  front  rank, 
you  all  have  the  best  homes  in  the  city.  You  will  be 
given  the  front  pews  in  the  church.”  “Hurrah!  for 
Georgia !”  she  exclaimed,  with  girlish  enthusiasm. 
When  the  Convention  opened  the  next  morning  the 
Georgia  delegation  filled  two  lengthy  pews,  at  the  left  of 
the  platform,  where  they  could  hear  the  proceedings 
without  the  least  effort.  Every  courtesy  was  extended 
by  the  Convention.  Mrs.  Stevens  announced  that  Geor- 
gia would  have  right  of  way  because  “she  had  gone 
dry.” 

When  the  services  of  the  Sabbath  were  given 
out  by  the  committee  Mrs.  Armor  was  placed  at 
McKendree,  the  largest  and  oldest  Methodist  Church  in 
the  city,  to  fill  the  eleven  o’clock  hour.  It  was  well 
advertised  that  she  would  speak  and  when  the  hour 
came  there  was  scarcely  standing  room  in  the  large 
auditorium.  She  delivered  her  famous  address  on 
“How  Georgia  Went  Dry.”  Beginning  in  that  simple, 
unaffected,  earnest,  vigorous  manner,  which  character- 
izes all  of  her  public  speeches,  the  people  at  once  recog- 
nized that  one  stood  before  them  whom  God  had 
called  to  fight  His  battles.  As  she  proceeded  with 
thrilling  descriptions  of  the  intensive  methods  used  in 
Georgia’s  struggle  towards  victory,  growing  in  fervor 
at  every  step,  the  people  listened  in  wonder  and  there 
was  a manifest  effort  on  their  part  to  hold  themselves 
down.  All  at  once  they  seemed  to  forget  that  they 
were  in  old  McKendree  Church,  with  its  solemn  dignity. 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


2k9 


and  they  began  to  cheer  so  that  she  could  scarcely  be 
heard.  The  preachers  at  her  back  in  the  pulpit,  among 
them  the  venerable  Dr.  G.  D.  Kelly,  rapped  their  canes 
upon  the  floor  and  said:  “Praise  God.”  When  she 
reached  the  closing  scenes  in  the  Georgia  Legislature, 
where  every  man  was  brought  face  to  face  with  honor 
and  duty  and  could  find  no  place  for  hiding,  in  the 
grand  climax  showing  the  heroic  allegiance  of  such  men 
as  Seaborn  Wright,  Dr.  L.  G,  Hardman  and  Judge  W. 
A.  Covington,  there  were  cries  of  “Hear!  Hear!”  all 
over  the  house.  At  the  close  of  the  service  she  could 
scarcely  make  her  way  through  the  crowd,  so  great 
was  the  throng  that  gathered  about  her,  asking  that  she 
repeat  the  address  at  the  evening  hour. 

When  she  returned  to  her  stopping  place  the  city 
reporters  began  to  call  her  up  over  the  telephone, 
asking  that  her  address  be  given  them  for  publication 
in  the  next  day’s  paper.  It  was  striking  to  hear  her 
answer  them  in  that  straightforw^ard,  matter-of-fact 
way  which  is  the  expression  of  her  sincere  and  un- 
affected character,  “I  don’t  know  how  to  write,”  said 
she,  “I  only  know  how  to  talk.  I never  wrote  a 
speech  in  my  life.”  When  they  asked  if  she  could 
not  give  them  a synopsis  of  her  address,  she  replied: 
“I  can’t  write,  I tell  you.  I know  what  I want  to 
say  and  I say  it  right  out  of  my  heart.  You  will 
have  to  get  some  one  else  to  write  the  speech  I made 
this  morning  if  you  want  it.  I have  a friend  here, 
Mrs.  Ansley,  from  Georgia,  who  writes.  She  may  con- 
sent to  do  it  for  you.”  The  writer  was  sitting  in  hearing 
distance  of  this  telephone  conversation  and  at  Mrs. 


250 


History  of  the 


Armor’s  request,  went  to  confer  with  the  reporter.  He 
wanted  the  substance  of  Mrs.  Armor’s  address  with 
some  facts  touching  her  parentage  and  historj".  The 
promise  was  given  to  prepare  as  best  I could,  what  he 
desired.  In  the  course  of  the  article  I had  occasion  to 
call  Mrs.  Armor  the  “Joan  of  Arc  of  the  Temperance 
Reform.”  This  was  copied  in  the  Northern  papers  and 
in  a few  days  Mrs.  Armor  had  calls  to  service  in  almost 
every  state  in  the  nation,  where  a fight  was  on  for  pro- 
hibition. The  representative  delegates  in  the  Conven- 
tion urged  her  to  make  engagements  two  years  in  ad- 
vance. She  was  literally  beseiged  to  speak  and  work 
in  states  from  Maine  to  California.  The  Literary 
Editor  of  the  Taylor-Trotwood  magazine,  came  to  the 
Convention  church  for  an  interview  and  requested  her 
to  write  her  noted  address  for  that  periodical.  This  call 
she  declined  in  short  order,  as  she  had  done  in  the  case 
of  the  city  reporter.  She  again  referred  the  editor  to 
her  Georgia  friend,  the  result  of  which  appeared  in  the 
January  issue  of  the  Taylor-Trotwood  magazine  under 
the  head  of  “Progress  of  Prohibition  in  Georgia.” 

Even  a greater  test  of  Mrs.  Armor’s  powers  was  made 
towards  the  close  of  the  Convention,  when  Mrs.  Stevens 
called  upon  her  to  take  the  annual  collection  for 
National  work  in  the  Sam  Jones  auditorium  before 
perhaps  five  fhousand  people.  If  might  be  claimed  that 
it  was  not  remarkable  that  one  should  grow  eloquent 
over  Georgia’s  victory  before  a sympathetic  audience 
in  McKendree  Church,  but  this  was  a duty  from  which 
the  strongest  drew  back,  and  for  which  the  fewest  num- 
ber had  gifts,  the  gift  of  raising  money  for  an  unpopular 


Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U. 


251 


cause.  After  speaking  only  a few  sentences,  Mrs. 
Armor  brought  the  audience  so  perfectly  under  her  con- 
trol that  $8,000.00  was  contributed  in  a few  minutes, 
the  subscriptions  being  given  faster  than  the  secretaries 
could  take  them  down.  It  was  absolutely  without  prec- 
edent in  the  history  of  the  organization.  Since  that 
wonderful  occasion  when  all  so  forgot  themselves  as  to 
give  freely,  even  lavishly  to  God’s  cause  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Mrs.  Armor’s  blazing  eloquence,  she  has  been 
in  demand  for  difficult  duties  in  the  National  W.  C.  T. 
U.  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

Who  wonders  that: 

Georgia  lifts  her  heart  in  gratitude  sublime 
To  Him  who  sent  her  a gift  so  divine — 

This  woman,  toiling  on  in  faith  through  heat  and  cold 
To  free  her  native  State  from  curse  of  liquor’s  gold! 

Fight  on,  Oh  woman,  ’till  the  nation  is  redeemed. 

And  citizens  of  all  the  states  have  esteemed 
It  crime  to  foster  aught  save  peace  and  purity — 

Crown  jewels  rare  of  Christian  love  and  amity. 


APPENDIX. 


ORIGINAL  CHARTER. 


Georgia,  I 

Fulton  County,  f Superior  Court  of  said  County. 

The  petition  of  Mrs.  J.  E.  Sibley,  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes,  Mrs. 
W.  B.  Hill,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Felton,  Miss  Emmie  Stewart,  Mrs.  Cora  C. 
Snead,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Witter,  Mrs.  M.  L.  McLendon,  Mrs.  Mary  S. 
Webb,  Mrs.  S.  J.  Blanchard,  Mrs.  M.  W.  Scomp,  Mrs.  J.  L.  Camp, 
Mrs.  M.  C.  Rowe,  and  their  associates  and  successors  desire  to  be 
incorporated  under  the  name  of 

“the  woman’s  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION  OF  GEORGIA.” 

The  object  of  their  organization  for  which  this  charter  is  asked 
is  to  promote  the  cause  of  temperance  by  religious  influence, 
by  moral  suasion,  by  educational  methods,  by  legal  prohibition 
of  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  beverages,  and  by  all  such  collateral 
means  and  agencies  as  will  tend  to  the  same  purpose. 

They  have  no  one  fixed  place  for  carrying  out  said  objects,  but 
operate  through  local  branches  of  the  organization  in  the  differ- 
ent counties  and  a State  Annual  Convention,  in  which  said  local 
societies  or  Unions  are  represented,  but  they  desire  to  establish 
permanent  headquarters  in  Atlanta,  Fulton  County. 

Said  organization  is  not  formed  for  the  purpose  of  gain  or 
financial  profit  and  has  no  capital  stock. 

Petitioners  pray  that  they  may  be  incorporated  under  said 
corporate  name  for  the  term  of  twenty  years,  and  that  they 


254  Appendix. 

may  be  invested  with  all  the  powers  mentioned  in  Section  1679 
of  the  Code  of  Georgia. 

WALTER  B.  HILL, 
Petitioners’  Attorney. 

Filed  in  office,  this  25th  day  of  February,  1891. 

G.  H.  TANNER,  Clerk. 


Upon  hearing  the  foregoing  petition,  it  appearing  that  it  has 
been  filed,  recorded  and  published  as  by  law  required,  and  that 
the  same  is  legitimately  in  the  purview  and  intention  of  the 
Code,  it  is  ordered  that  the  application  contained  in  said  petition 
be  and  the  same  is  hereby  granted,  and  the  petitioners  and  their 
successors  are  hereby  incorporated  for  the  term  of  twenty 
years  under  the  corporate  name  of 

“the  woman’s  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION  OF  GEORGIA,” 

with  all  the  powers  mentioned  in  Section  1679  of  the  Code  of 
Georgia. 

In  Open  Court,  April  8th,  1891. 

MARSHALL  J.  CLARKE,  Judge. 


State  of  Georgia,  | 

Fulton  County,  j 

I,  G.  H.  Tanner,  Clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  in  and  for  said 
County,  hereby  certify  that  the  above  and  foregoing  is  a true 
copy  of  the  petition  and  order  granting  Charter  to  “The  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  of  Georgia,”  as  appears  of  record 
in  this  office. 

I also  further  certify  that  the  original  petition,  together  with 
the  order  and  original  legal  advertisement  has  been  recorded 
in  the  record  of  Fulton  Superior  Court  Charters. 

Witness  my  hand  and  seal  of  said  Court,  this  the  8th  day  of 
April,  1891. 


G.  H.  TANNER,  Clerk. 


Appendix. 

MRS.  ELIZABETH  C.  WITTER. 


255 


SKETCHED  BY  MISS  MISSOURI  H.  STOKES. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Clayton  Witter  was  born  August  3rd,  1829,  near 
Forsyth,  in  Monroe  County,  Georgia.  She  was  one  of  the 
daughters  of  William  W.  and  Eliza  K.  Oslin.  Her  paternal 
great-grandfather  was  Rev.  William  Waters,  the  first  American- 
born  Methodist  preacher.  There  were  from  time  to  time,  forty 
ministers  in  her  family  connection.  She  herself  was  converted 
and  united  with  the  Methodist  Church  when  but  eight  years 
old. 

Mrs.  Witter’s  early  girlhood  was  spent  in  LaGrange,  Georgia, 
where,  at  school,  she  manifested  unusual  mental  power. 

In  July,  1852,  she  was  married  at  Oak  Bowery,  Alabama,  to 
Mr.  Henry  Witter.  They  came  to  Atlanta  in  the  stormy  days  of 
“The  War  Between  the  States,”  where  they  spent  the  greater  part 
of  their  married  life;  but  removed  a few  years  ago  to  Decatur, 
Georgia,  where,  on  November  25th,  1901,  Mrs.  Witter  met  her 
sudden  and  tragic  death. 

She  was  noted  for  her  devotion  to  church  work  and  was  prom- 
inent for  many  years  in  the  Woman’s  Home  and  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Societies.  Her  philanthropic  labors  among  the  poor  and 
lowly,  knew  no  bounds,  and  to  the  sick  and  afflicted  she  minis- 
tered with  her  own  hands  and  her  own  means. 

As  a friend,  she  was  ever  hospitable  and  true.  In  her  dispo- 
sition she  was  ever  cheerful,  hopeful,  charitable  and  forgiving. 
As  a student  of  the  Bihle,  few  persons  read  it  more  constantly 
or  with  better  results.  She  was  coming  from  a Bible  reading  in 
Atlanta  when  the  fatal  railroad  accident  that  ended  her  life, 
occurred.  She  was  returning  to  her  home  in  Decatur  on  December 
25th,  1901,  and  stepped  from  the  street  car  to  the  track  of  the 
Georgia  Railroad  and  was  instantly  killed  by  the  locomotive  of  a 
freight  train.  Clasped  tightly  in  her  dying  hands  was  a Bible 
she  had  so  long  read  and  carried  with  her  to  religious  and 
temperance  meetings. 


256 


Appendix. 


On  the  2nd  of  December,  1880,  Mrs.  Witter  joined  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Atlanta,  and  on  the  14th  of  April, 
1881,  she  was  elected  to  its  Presidency,  a position  which  she 
held  at  the  time  of  her  death,  and  had  held  (except  for  brief 
period  of  ill  health),  all  those  twenty  years.  She  was  the  first 
President  of  the  first  local  W.  C.  T.  U.  ever  organized  in  Georgia. 
With  her  in  its  earlier  years,  were  associated  such  women  as 
Mrs.  Jonathan  Norcross,  Mrs.  M.  E.  Howes,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Kiddoo, 
Mrs.  E.  P.  O’Connor,  Mrs.  Hester  A.  Auten,  Mrs.  Mary  N.  Callo- 
way, Mrs.  E.  E.  Harper,  Mrs.  D.  0.  Dougherty,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Thrower, 
Mrs.  Stainback  Wilson,  and  Miss  Missouri  Stokes. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  woman  in  Georgia  ever  did  more  or 
sacrificed  more  for  the  temperance  cause  than  Elizabeth  C. 
Witter.  For  several  years  she  also  held  the  State  Superintend- 
ency of  the  Department  of  Unfermented  Wine  at  the  Sacrament. 
How  faithfully  she  performed  her  duties,  many,  not  only  in 
Atlanta,  but  all  over  the  State,  can  testify.  A volume  would 
fail  to  tell  of  her  almost  superhuman  labors  in  the  Local  Option 
Campaigns  of  both  State  and  County;  and  in  the  mission  work  of 
her  Union  as  carried  on  in  jail,  hospital  and  the  most  neglected 
parts  of  the  city;  and  of  her  labors  for  Social  Purity  among 
the  outcast  of  the  city;  and  of  how  she  worked  in  Gospel  Temper- 
ance Prayer-Meetings  and  Sunday  Schools. 

Even  after  Mrs.  Witter  moved  to  Decatur,  and  with  the  weight 
of  three-score  and  ten  years  years  resting  upon  her,  there  was  no 
abatement  of  her  zeal,  energy  and  punctuality. 

The  key-note  of  her  wonderful  character,  so  energetic  and  yet 
so  modest,  sweet  and  humble,  was  her  likeness  to  Christ  in  whom 
she  believed  with  all  her  heart  and  loved  with  a deep,  abiding 
love. 


AUTO-BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  MISS  MISSOURI  H. 

STOKES. 


Miss  Missouri  Horton  Stokes,  daughter  of  Joseph  Hale  Stokes 
and  Mary  Watson  Stevens,  was  born  in  Gordon  County,  Georgia, 


Appendix.  257 

July  24th,  1838.  On  her  mother’s  side  she  was  of  English,  Welsh 
and  Scotch  descent;  on  her  father’s  of  Welsh  and  Irish  ancestry. 
Until  her  thirteenth  year,  her  education  was  almost  wholly  car- 
ried on  at  home,  her  mother  and  her  half-sister.  Miss  Mary  A.  H. 
Gay,  being  her  teachers.  At  this  period  of  her  life,  her  then 
widowed  mother  and  the  little  family  moved  to  Decatur,  near 
Atlanta.  Here,  after  a few  years  at  the  Academy,  Miss  Stokes 
became  a pupil  of  Rev.  John  S.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  Principal  of  the  Hannah  More  Female 
Institute,  from  which  school  she  graduated  in  1858,  after  a three 
year’s  course  in  the  usual  collegiate  studies.  Next  to  her  mothei’, 
this  noble  man  had  more  to  do  with  the  forming  of  her  character 
than  any  other  person,  for  he  was  her  pastor  as  well  as  her 
teacher,  she  having  united  with  the  Decatur  Presbyterian  Church 
in  1853.  Her  religious  impressions,  however,  she  dated  back  to 
her  earliest  years  and  her  mother’s  teachings  and  to  a three 
year’s  residence  in  Marietta  where,  at  the  age  of  seven,  she 
began  to  read  the  Bible  for  herself  and  to  take  a deep  interest 
in  the  Sabbath  School  and  the  preached  word. 

From  her  early  years  Missouri  Stokes  had  a penchant  for 
teaching,  instructing  children  younger  than  herself,  and  the 
negro  servants  wherever  she  found  them.  After  her  graduation, 
she  taught  at  various  points  for  several  years,  including  those 
of  the  War  Between  the  States.  From  1874  to  ’77,  she  had  charge 
of  the  Departments  of  English  Literature  and  of  Mental  and  Moral 
Science  in  the  Dalton  Female  College.  From  ’79  to  ’81  she 
taught  a private  school  in  Atlanta.  After  that  she  had  charge 
for  four  years  of  the  Mission  Day  School  of  the  Marietta  Street 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  visiting  the  parents  of  the  pupils 
and  sometimes  holding  Bible  readings  among  them. 

In  1880  Miss  Stokes  became  a member  of  the  Atlanta  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  the  first  local  Union  organized  in 
Georgia.  In  1881  she  became  its  Secretary,  and  when  the  State 
W.  C.  T.  U.  was  organized  in  1883,  she  was  appointed  State  Cor- 
responding Secretary,  holding  both  oflBces  until  her  resignation 
in  1893.  With  enthusiastic  zeal,  she  literally  threw  herself  into 

(17) 


258  Appendix. 

this  work,  seizing  every  opportunity  to  advance  the  cause.  For 
years  she  was  the  Georgia  Special  Correspondent  of  the  Union 
Signal,  and  for  various  papers  in  her  own  State,  she  furnished 
temperance  articles. 

Miss  Stokes  was  one  of  that  heroic  band  of  Georgia  women 
to  whose  efforts  the  State  was  largely  indebted  for  the  passage 
of  its  General  Local  Option  Law  and  also  for  its  Scientific 
Instruction  in  the  Public  Schools,  thousands  of  petitions  for 
both  these  measures  being  sent  through  the  post  office  by  her 
hands.  During  her  connection  with  the  State  W.  C.  T.  U.  Miss 
Stokes  made  several  organizing  tours  in  its  behalf,  and  was 
everywhere  received  with  great  kindness  and  respect. 

In  1892  there  came  to  Miss  Stokes  a most  crushing  bereavement 
in  the  death  of  her  nephew,  Thomas  Hale  Stokes,  the  last  male 
member  of  her  family.  After  a few  months,  she  resigned  the 
office  she  had  held  for  eleven  years,  and  for  five  years  her 
connection  with  the  State  Union  ceased.  In  1897  she  accepted 
the  State  Superintendency  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Press  Work,  but 
resigned  that  office  in  1902.* 


MRS.  SALLIE  F.  CHAPIN. 


A TRIBUTE  FROM  MRS.  W.  C.  SIBLEY. 

Among  the  workers  who  came  to  the  help  of  Georgia  in  the 
pioneer  days  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  none  gave  more  valuable  assist- 
ance than  Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin,  of  South  Carolina,  the  honored 
and  well-beloved  President  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  that  State,  and 
National  Superintendent  of  Southern  Work. 

She  was  always  ready  and  willing  to  come,  at  every  call  for 
“help.”  She  attended  nearly  every  State  Convention,  and  by 
her  wise  counsel,  motherly  advice,  and  executive  ability,  gave 
valuable  help  to  the  business  meetings,  and  in  public  meetings 

'Miss  Stokes  died  November  27th,  1910,  very  soon  after  the 
Madison  Convention  at  which  there  was  a special  re-union  of 
the  pioneers  of  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.  She  was  too  ill  at  the 
time  to  attend  the  Convention. — [Editor.] 


Appendix.  259 

was  always  the  favorite  speaker,  with  her  personal  magnetism, 
her  thrilling  eloquence,  wit  and  humor,  and  stirring  appeals  to 
the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the  people,  creating  enthusiasm, 
swaying  her  audiences  at  will,  making  many  friends  and  con- 
verts to  the  cause,  adding  to  the  membership  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U., 
and  securing  financial  help  for  its  treasury.  She  lectured  in 
many  cities  of  the  State,  organized  a number  of  Unions,  and 
assisted  in  several  local  option  campaigns  for  prohibition,  and 
was  one  of  the  most  well-beloved  and  successful  temperance 
workers  that  ever  came  to  the  State.  She  loved  Georgia  next 
to  her  own  state,  but  worked  most  faithfully,  lovingly,  and  self- 
sacrificingly  throughout  the  whole  South — and  in  some  places  at 
the  North — never  being  deterred  or  conquered  by  difficulties 
and  opposition,  but  always  ready  to  speak,  do  and  dare,  and  “if 
need  be,  to  die,”  for  the  cause  so  dear  to  her  heart,  ’till  health 
and  strength  failed,  the  tired  body  gave  out,  the  brave,  loyal 
heart  ceased  to  beat,  and  the  faithful,  consecrated  soul  took  its 
flight  to  the  better  world,  to  meet  with  its  blessed  reward. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER. 


In  Re 

Mrs.  J.  H.  Sibley,  et  al 
Petition  for  Charter. 


I 


In  Spalding  Superior  Court. 
January  Term,  1906. 


Whereas,  Mrs.  Jennie  Hart  Sibley,  of  Greene  County;  Mrs. 
Mary  Harris  Armor,  of  Dodge  County;  Mrs.  Mary  R.  Patterson, 
of  Spalding  County;  Mrs.  R.  V.  Hardeman,  of  Ribb  County;  Mrs. 
C.  H.  Smith,  of  Schley  County;  Mrs.  Leila  A.  Dillard,  of  Troup 
County;  and  Miss  Theresa  Griffin,  of  Muscogee  County,  Georgia, 
on  November  6th,  1905,  filed  their  petition  in  this  Court  on  behalf 
of  themselves  and  their  associates  and  successors,  praying  to  be 
incorporated  for  a term  of  twenty  years  under  the  name  and 
style  of 

“the  woman’s  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION  OF  GEORGIA,” 
And  said  petition  has  been  published  as  required  by  law,  it  is 
therefore  ordered  that  said  petition  be  granted  and  said  petition- 


260  Appendix. 

ers,  their  associates  and  successors,  are  hereby  incorporated 
under  the  name  and  style  of  The  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance 
Union  of  Georgia,  for  the  period  of  twenty  years  with  the 
privilege  of  renewal  at  the  end  of  said  time,  for  the  purpose  of 
reclaiming  the  inebriate,  suppressing  the  traffic  in  intoxicating 
liquors,  and  creating  a high  moral  and  religious  sentiment  in 
favor  of  total  abstinence  from  all  that  may  intoxicate,  and 
further  in  their  corporate  capacity  to  have  the  right  to  establish 
local  Unions  wherever  desired  in  said  State,  to  have  and  use  a 
common  seal,  to  buy,  own  and  sell  real  estate  or  other  property, 
to  receive  gifts  and  bequests  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  the 
object  of  said  corporation,  to  make  and  adopt  by-laws  for  the 
government  of  said  corporation,  and  to  have  all  the  rights, 
powers  and  privileges,  and  subject  to  all  the  limitations,  duties 
and  restrictions,  which,  by  the  laws  of  Georgia,  appertain  to 
such  corporations. 

In  open  Court,  January  19th,  1906. 

E.  J.  REAGAN,  Judge. 

S.  C.  F.  C. 


State  of  Georgia,  ) Clerk’s  Office,  Spalding  Superior  Court. 
Spalding  County,  j Griffin,  Ga.,  February  20th,  1912. 

I,  W.  H.  Wheaton,  Clerk  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Spalding 
County,  Georgia,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  above  and  fore- 
going is  a true  and  correct  copy  of  the  order  of  Court  granting 
charter  to 

“the  woman’s  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION  OF  GEORGIA,” 
as  the  same  appears  of  record  on  the  Minutes  of  said  Court,  in 
Minute  Book  “L,”  pages  437  and  438. 

Witness  my  signature  and  seal  of  the  said  Court,  this  the  day 
and  year  last  above  written. 

W.  H.  WHEATON, 

Clerk. 


Appendix.  261 

THE  ATLANTA  RACE  RIOT. 

It  was  during  this  Convention  in  LaGrange  that  the  Race  Riot 
occurred  in  Atlanta  and  the  news  of  it  coming  through  the 
press  telegrams  profoundly  stirred  the  women  assembled  there. 
The  origin  of  it  was  that  several  outrages  had  been  committed 
by  negroes  upon  unprotected  white  women  in  the  suburbs  of  the 
city,  and  the  police  could  not  discover  the  criminals.  The  popu- 
lace became  greatly  incensed  and  the  lawless  and  degraded 
element  among  the  whites  began  to  terrorize  the  negroes  so 
that  many  of  them  fled  from  their  homes.  The  affair  culminated 
in  the  gathering  of  a mob  upon  the  streets  which  dragged  two 
or  three  innocent  negroes  from  a street  car  and  shot  them  to 
death. 

The  mayor  immediately  ordered  every  saloon  in  the  city 
closed,  the  authorities  took  hold  vigorously  of  the  situation  and 
there  was  no  more  trouble.  It  was  said  that  the  whole  thing  was 
caused  by  drinking  in  the  low  dives  on  Decatur  Street  and  the 
occurrence  had  a direct  influence  upon  the  public  mind  in  favor 
of  State-wide  prohibition. 

In  the  Convention  the  matter  was  fully  discussed;  the  noon- 
tide prayer  was  made  by  Mrs.  Juliette  Nix,  of  Atlanta,  and  very 
earnest  and  solemn  it  was.  She  prayed  for  the  peace  of  our 
capital  city  even  at  that  moment  convulsed  with  internal  and 
bloody  strife.  A resolution  was  offered  by  Dr.  Lillis  Wood 
Starr,  also  of  Atlanta,  and  adopted  as  follows: 

“To  Mayor  Woodward,  Atlanta,  Ga.;  Greetings: 

“We,  the  Georgia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  in  session,  do  praise  the  Lord  that 
by  your  act  of  closing  the  saloons  you  have  declared  the  saloon 
to  be  a menace  to  peace,  the  hot-bed  of  anarchy,  crime  and 
bloodshed.  Our  prayers  ascend  for  their  permanent  closing  and 
for  God’s  protection  and  peace  in  our  capital  city.” 

Signed, 

MARY  HARRIS  ARMOR,  President, 

JENNIE  HART  SIBLEY,  Honorary  President, 
M.  THERESA  GRIFFIN,  Ass’t.  Recording  Sec’y. 


262 


Appendix. 

MRS.  ISABELLA  WEBB  PARKS. 


Mrs.  Isabella  Webb  Parks  was  a member  of  the  “old  original 
Atlanta  Union”  several  years  before  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Convention  was  held  in  Atlanta  in  1890  in  Trinity  Church.  Mrs. 
Parks  was  one  of  Frances  E.  Willard’s  many  pupils  at  the  North- 
western University,  Evanston,  Illinois,  where  both  Mrs.  Parks  and 
her  husband  graduated.  She  was  very  active  in  assisting  in  enter- 
taining the  delegates  to  the  National  and  had  many  of  them 
in  her  own  home.  She  was  a most  valued  member  of  the 
Frances  Willard  Union  when  she  left  Atlanta  for  Washington 
City  where  she  and  her  husband  and  family  have  since  resided. 
She  was  for  years  Associate  Editor  of  the  Union  Signal  and  a 
remarkable  woman  in  many  ways. 


MRS.  FRANCES  PRIDE  PARKS. 


Mrs.  Frances  Pride  Parks,  our  present  splendid  National  Cor- 
responding Secretary,  was  also  at  one  time  connected  with  the 
Atlanta  Frances  Willard  Union,  though  in  no  way  related  to 
Mrs.  Isabella  Webb  Parks.  She  came  to  Atlanta  with  her  hus- 
band and  two  little  daughters  in  1888,  and  joined  the  Union 
which  was  then  called  the  Atlanta  South  Side,  where  she  was 
greatly  loved  for  her  zeal  and  ability.  Mrs.  Parks  was  for 
several  years  President  of  tbe  West  Virginia  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and 
when  she  became  National  Corresponding  Secretary,  the  Atlanta 
women  who  knew  and  loved  her,  were  rejoiced  at  it. 


iv,;: 

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